The National Human Rights Association (NHRA) will launch a web site to bring to light the problems divorced women face in Saudi Arabia. NHRA's objective is to bring about change. NHRA's endeavor is led by Haifa Khalid, a Saudi journalist who started her own website “Saudi Divorce Initiative” in March – it was the first web site to discuss the plight of Saudi divorced women. NHRA and Khalid plan to eventually submit a list of issues faced by divorced women to the government. NHRA will take up cases of divorce, violence and complaints received on Khalid's website in order to draw up the list and submit it to the Shoura Council, the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. “Our aim is to make this website one of the first references for the NHRA to discuss problems of divorced women,” said Hussain Al-Sharif, head of the NHRA's Family Department and head of the National Human Rights Association in Makkah. Hussain said the website would also help keep human rights activists in contact with government entities with the ministries concerned. Khalid said many women are ignorant of their rights as divorced women. “We have heard many times about rights of divorced women and how they cannot get anything unless they defend themselves in court or with the help of an association that deals with divorced women. Not all women know their rights or how to use them,” said Khalid. NHRA has access to the services of several law experts and consultants in social affairs, psychology and religion. Those experts are ready to discuss the problems of divorced women and try to find a solution for them, Khalid said. “We have identified requirements for a woman to make an appearance in court as soon as her husband declares he wants a divorce. We have had several cases where a husband divorces his wife, does not tell her and continues to have intimate relations with her as if they were still married,” Khalid said. Studies show that divorce cases in the Kingdom have risen from between 25 and 60 percent in the past 20 years. __
