Saudi Gazette report

THOUGH it applies to most matters of life, it is especially important what trajectory we choose when it comes to conflict resolution, particularly in marital disputes.

A large number of accounts have surfaced on Twitter lately offering to resolve marital conflicts amicably. They target both men and women by sending messages and posting materials to prove their credentials.

Numerous social media experts and consultants have questioned the authenticity of such accounts. They warned that these accounts could violate the privacy of couples by posting details of their marital problems on Twitter for the consumption of the general public, Al-Watan newspaper reported.

Settlement of marital conflicts is regulated in the Kingdom by law. Only trained consultants with sufficient knowledge and experience are authorized to handle them and that too at the behest of courts.

Saudi courts have looked into 340,648 personal status cases all over the Kingdom todate. Currently, the courts are examining 52,762 such cases.

Sulaiman Al-Zayedi, deputy director of Al-Amal Mental Hospital in Jeddah, said only authorized and licensed organizations and consultants should look into marital conflicts and try to reconcile couples at loggerheads.

He said the reconciliation committee at Jeddah Personal Status Court successfully resolved 6,624 marital disputes since the beginning of 2017, thanks to professional intervention by judges and arbitrators.

“It is important for people who interfere in such cases to have the expertise and long-term experience. They should have acquired special qualifications in the field in order to help married couples to resolve their issues amicably. It is dangerous for married couples to approach self-styled consultants who offer their services on social media claiming that they have the expertise to handle these cases,” Al-Zayedi said.

These people try to extract as much information as possible about couples in a conflict and then post them on Twitter in clear violation of privacy rights. They do this in order attract more followers because they know that many people love to read intimate details revealed to consultants by couples wishing to reconcile their differences.

“Unfortunately, some people wash their dirty linen in public without bothering about the consequences. They reveal details of their relationship in order to pin blame for the mistakes and misunderstandings between them on their spouses. This is a common mistake most married couples make. I can’t stress enough the importance of discussing marital conflicts only with well-trained and licensed consultants,” he pointed out.

Fake social media accounts can pose great dangers because people who handle disputes and provide advice to conflicting parties on these sites may not be professionals, said Al-Zayedi.

"No one should listen to advice given on these accounts because doing so might lead to catastrophic consequences. Moreover, these accounts offer the same advice in all cases that come before them without taking into consideration the circumstances and social status of the couples involved, their lifestyles and any other relevant aspects," Al-Zayed said.

Relying on such accounts will complicate matters further and lessen the possibilities of resolving the dispute amicably, he explained.

Al-Zayedi said consulting these fake accounts could create confusion in the minds of married couples, provide them with the wrong solution and most importantly violate their privacy.

He believes that these accounts cannot offer any effective solutions to couples in a marital dispute.