Ammon News - SPECIAL REPORT BY XINHUA CORRESPONDENT MOHAMMAD GHAZAL

AMMAN, More Jordanian women file for divorce, since the enactment of a law facilitating their rights to leave their husbands, official figures showed.

According to recently-released figures by the Chief Islamic Justice Department in Jordan, over 1,500 Khula cases have been registered annually since the Kuala law came into force, up from 300 to 400 previously.

Khula law, a temporary law enacted in 2001, stipulates that a woman can divorce her husband provided that she gives up her rights to alimony and returns the dowry she receives from her husband.

"The number of Khula cases is on the rise following the law’s enactment. There is more awareness among women on their rights in this regard," associate professor of sociology Hussein Khuzaii told Xinhua.

"Jordanian women are more educated than in the past. They work and support themselves so they need no longer tolerate any mistreatment or financial hardships," he said.

Before the enactment of the Khula law, the process for women to divorce their husbands was complicated and a tough journey.

"Before the law, it was a never-ending headache for women who wanted a divorce. The process included a prolonged trial period ranging from one to two years," lawyer and women activist Inaam Asha told Xinhua.

Asha referred to the case of 26-year-old Khadija, whom the lawyer represented at court.

Since early 2000, Khadija had filed for divorce several times due to economic hardships on the part of her husband, but to no avail.

After the Kuala law, part of the Personal Status Law, was enacted in 2001, Khadija was "instantly" able to leave her husband, Asha said.

Khadija is one of thousands of Jordanian women who have become "empowered" to leave their husbands since the enactment of the law which dictates a maximum court processing time of six months.

Women activists welcome the legislation, stressing that for decades hundreds of women who wanted to get divorce faced obstacles due to legal complications.

"More women are resorting to Khula law to end marriages they can no longer proceed with and the law just grants them that right, " Asha said.

The Khula law is meant to protect the rights and dignity of women, said Abdul Nasser Abul Basal, a member of Jordan’s Al Ifta Council, which is in charge of issuing religious edicts in the country.

"It is allowed in cases where it has reached a point that it is impossible for the couple to proceed with their marriage.

"The Khula law gives women the right to resort to divorce to end their marriage, instead of a consensus of both sides required in the past law," Abul Basal added.

Experts cited difficult economic conditions as the major drive behind women resorting to Khula, followed by domestic violence. Other reasons vary from marriage at an early age to husband’s impotence.

Lawyer Mahmoud Qteishat, who deals with such cases at court, told Xinhua that increasing economic hardship in Jordan is the biggest impetus behind the rise in women resorting to Khula.

"When there is poverty, love is always the first casualty. Difficult financial conditions make family ties fade away," Qteishat said.

As it is considered a source of "embarrassment and shame" for Arab men to be divorced by their wives, many husbands now rush to file divorce themselves when informed of their wives’ intention to resort to Khula, experts said.

"Jordanian men tend to hurry to divorce to avoid the societal stigma," Qteishat said.

Khuzaii shared his ideas, saying that, "The shame for a man to be divorced by his wife in the Arab world is crippling.

"Oftentimes, men immediately divorce their wives to save face."

Seeing the benefits of the temporary law to women, experts and women activists have repeatedly called for a permanent legislation to ensure the future protection of women.

"As long as it is temporary, the situation might go back to where it was before 2001 in an instant," Asha warned. ((Xinhua)