DAMMAM: A court in Dammam has granted a woman divorce after her husband, who had gone missing nearly five years earlier, was finally located with the help of the Human Rights Commission (HRC). According to Al-Hayat Arabic daily, the 22-year-old woman's husband disappeared when she gave birth to their child nearly five years ago, and she and relatives set about trying to locate him in order to obtain the official documents certifying their child's identity that would grant him access to healthcare, education and other public services. The search proved fruitless, and when the need for documents grew as the child required hospital treatment and the mother wanted to enroll him in a kindergarten, she turned to the HRC. An HRC official told Al-Hayat that the commission sought the help of Civil Affairs offices to locate the husband and father. “He was found two months later, in a faraway place,” he said. The wife said that the news of her husband's whereabouts “saved my life”. “He left without a trace when I was 18, and I'd been looking for him for five years,” she said. “I'd ask all the authorities to help women and children, and monitor the problems women go through.” Human Rights researcher and sociologist Samira Al-Abbas said that women's issues require a “specialist body”. “There are family courts, but the Human Rights Commission doesn't just handle issues concerning women and children, although they do resolve a lot of issues and problems faced by women in the courts,” she said. “The number of cases involving women seeking divorce is on the rise because of men failing to treat women properly and abusing women's rights, and the victims are the children. In this case, what fault is it of the child that he should go five years without identity? The mother should have the right to submit official documents even if she is divorced. She has the right to protect herself and her children.”
