Saudi judge in domestic violence suit: men may slap wives

Husbands are allowed to slap their wives if they spend lavishly, a Saudi judge said recently during a seminar on domestic violence, Saudi media reported Sunday.

Arab News, a Saudi English-language daily newspaper based in Riyadh, reported that Judge Hamad Al-Razine said that “if a person gives SR 1,200 {$320} to his wife and she spends 900 riyals {$240} to purchase an abaya {the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear} from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment…”

Arab News reported that Al-Razine made his remark as he was attempting to explain why incidents of domestic violence had increased in Saudi Arabia. He said that women and men shared responsibility, but added that “nobody puts even a fraction of blame” on women, the newspaper said.