MarriageTweets

The majority of divorces granted in Dubai last year had happened during the first year of marriage, indicating poor decision-making when choosing a partner. “A lot of women accept a man under the basis that he will change after marriage, and this is wrong.” Nationwide statistics are not available, but figures released by the Ministry of Social Affairs in Sharjah last month indicated that the divorce rate in the emirate had risen from 26 per cent in 2001 to 33.9 per cent in 2008, a figure that the federal Minister of Social Affairs, Mariam Mohammed Khalfan al Roumi, described as “alarming”. The Ministry of Social Affairs estimates that there are almost 18,000 divorced or widowed Emirati women in the country, and Dh200 million (US$55m) was spent in assistance for divorced women last year. // Related: Abu Dhabi Campaign for Social Cohesion