Courts will now serve ladies their divorce discover by way of textual content message in Saudi Arabia, in a brand new regulation that took impact on Sunday, officers stated.
The measure permitted by the justice ministry seems aimed toward curbing seemingly rampant instances of males secretly ending marriages with out informing their wives.
“Women… will be notified of any changes to their marital status via text message,” the justice ministry stated in an announcement carried by state-run Al-Ekhbariya information channel and different native media.
“Women in the kingdom will be able to view documents related to the termination of their marriage contracts through the ministry’s website.”
The transfer comes as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler spearheads a liberalisation drive within the conservative kingdom, which has a few of the world’s hardest restrictions on ladies, AFP reviews.
In June final yr, ladies celebrated taking the wheel for the primary time in many years as the dominion overturned the world’s solely ban on feminine motorists.
The dominion has additionally allowed ladies to enter sports activities stadiums, beforehand a male-only enviornment, and is pushing for better participation of ladies within the workforce because it seeks to diversify its oil-dependent economic system.
However in tandem with the reforms, the dominion has seen a wave of arrests of ladies activists in latest months because it steps up a crackdown on dissent.
The nation additionally faces criticism over its male guardianship system, which permits males to train arbitrary authority to make choices on behalf of their feminine family members.
On Sunday, an 18-year-old Saudi lady held at Bangkok airport stated she could be killed if she was repatriated by Thai immigration officers.
Pleading her case on Twitter, the lady — who wished to hunt asylum in Australia — stated she was attempting to flee her household, who subjected her to bodily and psychological abuse.