not all these women are however divorced or actually abandoned by their husbands but they are certainly those who face troubles in their life approaching state bodies for assistance is precluded by the womens unwillingness to reveal diat their husbands have abandoned them as this might lead to the loss of their status in the community this is also a result of their inability to provide the authorities with official papers owing to the fact diat religious marriages account for a high share of the total number of marriages iom