Interesting!

After my mad ranting posts of last night about fidelity being an issue in this part of the world I was very amused to read an article on the Arab Times website about just such a thing!
Here you go:

‘Be faithful, protect family’; Society shuns talk on spouse cheats

KUWAIT CITY: Despite the prevalence of marital infidelity in Arab societies, there is a dearth of studies done on the issue due to the customs and traditions in the region making the topic a taboo in the Arab world, Dr Alia Shuaib said in her show entitled ‘Under Shade’ aired Sunday on Al-Watan TV. With Attorney Dawim Al-Muwaizri and the Kuwait University teaching staff as guest panelists on the show, where they discussed marital infidelity issues in the Arab region, Shuaib pointed out “infidelity is a morality issue that we prefer not to discuss to avoid humiliation. In spite of its negative impact on society, even the experts refuse to tackle the issue due to cultural considerations.” Talking about the different phases of infidelity, Shuaib explained “the first phase begins theoretically through the Internet and satellite channels, which give the public easy access to immoral publications while the second phase is what we call the ‘acting out’ stage wherein people fulfill their sexual fantasies through extramarital affairs.”

Al-Muwaizri, on the other hand, said the Court deals with a multitude of infidelity cases daily besides reports filed at the police stations, which often end up in divorce. Disclosing that Kuwait’s divorce rate recently increased by 30 per cent, he said three out of ten marriages are successful while the rest usually end in divorce. He believes that lack of moral discipline and proper upbringing are the two major factors pushing people to betray their spouses. Emphasizing there is no justification for a man to betray his wife, Al-Muwaizri said a man who betrays his wife is sick as he seems to focus only on the pleasure he will get from such an immoral act, forgetting its negative impact on his family and the society in general. He added the law is biased as it allows husbands to monitor the activities of their wives and record their calls in case of doubt but women are not allowed to do the same. Generally, men cannot forgive their unfaithful wives while women often forgive their husbands to keep the family intact.

Shuaib, however, thinks the divorce rate in 2005 was higher than 30 per cent indicating that infidelity happens due to differences in age, educational achievements, cultural background, and social status. She also lamented the fact that society tends to be more forgiving of men having extra-marital affairs than women. She called on the concerned authorities to protect the rights of married women considering their commitment to maintain the integrity of the family. She added women have the ability to detect signs of betrayal even at its early stage. At the end of the show, Shuaib asked one of the panelists to monitor programs aired on satellite TV channels based on religious principles. She also stressed the need for husbands and wives to remain faithful to each other and maintain the stability of the family.

By Jamil Al-Pasha
Special to the Arab Times