Love and marriage

Go together like a horse and carriage, allegedly, so it is no wonder that lack of affection is a huge contributor to the soaring divorce levels among UAE nationals. Gone are the desert days of a sparse population scattered in tents over the sand, when a young person may as well sit back and accept an unknown, parentally chosen spouse because there was no one else for a thousand miles.

Emirati couples split for various reasons, according to a female representative of the Fujairah Social Development Centre.

"A man gets a second wife, or he gets addicted to alcohol and drugs, or he did not get to know his wife before marriage because of traditions, or he has an affair - these lead to divorce."

Nice to see the bizarre and inhumane tradition of throwing two complete strangers together in lifelong matrimony at last coming up for its share of the blame.