Saudi Gazette report AL-AHSA — Experts are advising women who had had sex before marriage to seek professional help to get a clean slate and move on, Al-Riyadh newspaper reported. Director of Al-Ahsa Women and Girls Care Association Samirah Al-Sultan said women who are convicted of adultery or premarital sex are in a very fragile state. “We often see families rejecting women completely, without sympathy or asking themselves about the circumstance that forced them,” Al-Sultan said. “Perhaps she was under a lot of pressure, or was suffering emotionally.” The association acts as a care home of sorts, where women are taken in and cared for immediately after they are released. “We offer them a rehabilitation program, which helps their integration back into society,” Al-Sultan said. “They have the right to have a stable future and feel safe and are worthy of leading a happy life. Just because a woman had made one mistake at a tender age, no one has the right to condemn her forever.” According to Al-Sultan, those who wish to get married should contact the Ministry of Social Affairs, as they are more likely to have a successful marriage that way. “It is a shame to see marriages end in divorces and children are tossed in the middle because of a mistake a woman had made in the past,” she said. “Without the support of the family, a marriage can break apart. Our association keeps close contact with women who married through us.” The association makes frequent house calls to make sure things are going well and offer support whenever needed. “We even interfere in marital conflicts and disputes to settle things down," Al-Sultan said. “Many parents refuse to have their daughters marry through the association even though they do not have a legitimate reason to decline our services. “We ensure that the men have no medical or legal problems that they have not disclosed, and we ensure transparency in all matters.” Huda Al-Abdulaziz is a social worker with the association. She said the biggest obstacle they face is contacting parents and gaining their cooperation. “It is a very important step to achieve because without it, the woman's recovery and rehabilitation is hindered,” Al-Abdulaziz said. According to her, many members of Saudi society refuse to admit they have psychological conditions. “They believe that society will look down on them and will consider them incurably crazy,” she said. “They also think if they seek therapy and medicine they would become addicted to it and will seep into more and more problems.” The association's public relations director, Amal Al-Muslim, said Al-Ahsa is also seeking to work with other organizations that provide similar services. “We need to raise awareness in our society about such cases,” Al-Muslim said. “People need to be more accepting of girls who have made mistakes in the past. We have several partnerships and we work closely with the Ministry of Social Affairs to offer workshops and sessions educating the general public about our role in society.”
