Contemporary Issues in Marriage Law and Practice in Qatar

Abstract

This paper discusses changing marriage practices in modern-day Qatar, drawing on empirical data gathered in a sociolegal study involving interviews with individual citizens and residents about their marriage and family experiences, and with legal personnel and experts in family law. It presents a unique insight into evolving relationship behaviours occurring within and on the periphery of Qatar’s family-law framework in the context of its population make-up, historic traditions, trends in education, and globalisation. Changing practices examined include ‘late’ first marriages and ‘marrying out.’ The empirical research findings are used to analyse the link between the administrative process of obtaining permission to marry out and non-state-registered marriages, the gender imbalance in the treatment of those marrying out, and the link between child custody rights and unofficial marriages. The emerging narrative depicts couples navigating marriage laws and utilising non-state-registered ‘religious-only’ marriages as a temporary measure to overcome legal and administrative hindrances.

Impact of leadership gender stereotyping on managing familial conflict, matrimonial strategies, divorce decisions and marital satisfaction in Qatar

“…Not only has the rate of divorce escalated, especially among young adults, in Qatar by 71% over the past two decades, but the rate of divorce is now nearly 60% in Kuwait and 30% in Saudi Arabia. Qatar has experienced radical social change that is reshaping the classic family model through modernization and globalization (Akhtar, 2020;Lari, 2020). Changing the gender roles between spouses, increasing the number of women in the workplace and in leadership roles, and extending women's position in relation to contributing to household finances are just a few examples of Oriental modernization (Civilotti et al, 2021;James-Hawkins et al, 2017).…”