Manama, Jul 12 (IANS): More than 30 Kuwaiti women have filed for divorce after they found out that their husbands spent partying on New Year's eve in Lebanon while claiming they were performing pilgrimage in Makkah, a media report said.

"Many husbands cause the end of their marriages by cheating and lying to their wives," Kuwaiti lawyer Abdullah Al Shibani was quoted as saying by Gulf News daily.

"At the beginning of this year, 33 Kuwaiti women contacted me to file for divorce after they discovered that their husbands - who said they were on a spiritual trip to Makkah - went in fact to Lebanon to celebrate New Year's Eve," the lawyer said.

Several activists and religious leaders have been calling for greater awareness about the significance of marriage amid reports about the increasing rate of divorce in Kuwait.

"At times, we have the impression that divorce has become a trend, a fashion, among spouses who put an end to their marriage even when they have to deal with slight problems," he said.

"In many cases, the husband files to divorce his wife for trivial reasons, such as when she colours her hair without asking for his opinion or because he feels she has a bad breath."

According to marriage counsellors, a large number of divorces are caused by "outsiders".

Some husbands tend to share their marital secrets with friends and often allow them to interfere in their domestic lives. Many wives seek divorce after they are pushed by friends to get rid of their husbands, they said.