Saudi Gazette report

TAIF — A Saudi female academic in Taif has offered a workshop to remind women of their legal rights and duties. Dr. Abeer Alobaidy, vice president of legal administration in the University of Taif, asked women to keep in mind the fact that Islam protected their rights in every stage of life from childhood to maturity, before and after marriage, and even in divorce.

Alobaidy gave the workshop, titled “Women’s rights according to Saudi regulations,” in the department of community service and continuing education.

The purpose of the workshop was to make sure that women knew all their legal rights in all matters including personal affairs, work places, investigation and pleading systems, implementation, civil affairs and finally online harassment and how to report it.

Alobaidy explained the rights of a divorcee or a woman who had her marriage annulled, while emphasizing the difference between the two.

She said alimony is one of the things that keep changing depending on the situation and the amount is to be decided by the court.

She also talked about cases where alimony is either definite or annulled. “Alimony is considered a first-degree debt, which gets put above all others,” she said.

The government of Saudi Arabia has made sure that women do not suffer from financial troubles, which means if the father is unemployed or doesn’t have a bank account, the woman will still get a monthly allowance thanks to the alimony fund for divorces. Moreover, women shouldn’t be worried because the alimony will be given to them each month without having to worry about a careless or lazy father.

Alobaidy described the basic legal principles regarding child custody and the most important laws that stand in favor of women such as the one that states that a mother can’t be denied custody of her child just because she got remarried as long as the father of the child consents.

Another law in favor of mothers is the one that guarantees full guardianship over a minor child to make it easy for her at schools, ministries and the passport department.

Lastly, Alobaidy shed light on the problem of online harassment and how to report it to the authorities.

She talked about extortion and the one-year jail sentence and the fine it carries. She warned that cursing on social media is punishable by law.