--- description: Women in Saudi Arabia may now be informed of divorces by text message under a new regulation lauded as a small improvement for gender rights title: Women in Saudi Arabia Will Be Notified of Divorce by SMS image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8d08fa7325add02/698942be8fd2eef9a435d864/gettyimages-852992082.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Saudi Arabia](/tag/saudi-arabia/) ## Saudi Arabia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Women in Saudi Arabia Will Now Be Notified of Divorce by Text Message by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 7, 2019 3:25 AM CUT  Women walk on Tahlia street in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sept. 24, 2017. Women walk on Tahlia street in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Sept. 24, 2017.Fayez Nureldine—AFP/Getty Images by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 7, 2019 3:25 AM CUT Women in Saudi Arabia will be informed by text message that their marriages have ended under a new regulation aimed at ending the practice of secret divorce, whereby men in the kingdom could unilaterally decide to separate without informing their wives. The [new measure](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/06/saudi-arabia-to-notify-women-of-divorce-by-text-message "undefined") was approved by the country’s justice ministry on Sunday, Agence France-Presse reports citing local media. “Women… will be notified of any changes to their marital status via text message,” the justice ministry said in a statement run on the Saudi state-operated Al-Ekhbariya news channel. The report added that women could access “documents related to the termination of their marriage contracts” on the ministry’s website. Under previous statutes, Saudi men could trigger a divorce unilaterally without telling their wives, and women did not need to appear in court for divorces to be issued, according to a 2016 Human Rights Watch report on the country’s male guardianship system. Suad Abu-Dayyeh, Middle East and North Africa consultant for gender rights group Equality Now, called the new measure “a [step in the right direction](https://www.reuters.com/article/saudi-women-divorce/saudi-women-to-be-told-of-divorce-by-text-message-under-new-law-idUSL8N1Z60IB "undefined").” “In most Arab countries, men can just divorce their wives,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation . “At least women will know whether they are divorced or not.” The measure follows a series of gender liberalization efforts last year under de facto Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has sought to [increase women’s participation](http://time.com/longform/saudi-arabia-driving-ban-rebrand-or-revolution/ "undefined") in the conservative kingdom’s workforce. Longstanding gender-based prohibitions on [driving](http://time.com/4958442/saudi-arabia-women-to-drive-movement-cars/ "undefined") and entering sports stadiums were lifted, and [movie theaters](http://time.com/5230354/black-panther-saudi-arabia-cinema/ "undefined") reopened for the first time in 35 years with a screening of _Black Panther_. **Read** **more:** [_Is the End of Saudi Arabia’s Driving Ban a Rebrand or a Revolution?_](http://time.com/longform/saudi-arabia-driving-ban-rebrand-or-revolution/ "undefined") But the government has come under criticism for [repression of activists and gender advocates](http://time.com/5289690/saudi-arabia-womens-activists-arrests-escalate/ "undefined") as Mohammad bin Salman sought to quash political dissent. In November, Amnesty International accused the country of [torturing and sexually harassing](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/11/saudi-arabia-reports-of-torture-and-sexual-harassment-of-detained-activists/ "undefined") several female activists, some of whom were [detained in May](http://time.com/5321848/saudi-arabia-women-driving-ban-activists/ "undefined") while protesting the driving ban. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5495156/saudi-arabia-divorce-text-message/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5495156/saudi-arabia-divorce-text-message/"},"headline":"Women in Saudi Arabia Will Now Be Notified of Divorce by Text Message","datePublished":"2019-01-07T03:25:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:25:41.837Z","description":"Previously, men in Saudi Arabia could end marriages without informing their wives","url":"https://time.com/5495156/saudi-arabia-divorce-text-message/","keywords":["Saudi Arabia","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8d08fa7325add02/698942be8fd2eef9a435d864/gettyimages-852992082.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8d08fa7325add02/698942be8fd2eef9a435d864/gettyimages-852992082.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"SAUDI-POLITICS-ANNIVERSARY","caption":"SAUDI-POLITICS-ANNIVERSARY","creditText":"Fayez Nureldine—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/saudi-arabia/","name":"Saudi Arabia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5495156/saudi-arabia-divorce-text-message/","name":"Women in Saudi Arabia Will Now Be Notified of Divorce by Text Message"}}]}] ```