A belted absorbent article (10) having an absorbent structure (16) and a pair of opposed belt halves (12, 14) attached to the absorbent structure (16) via a respective joint (50). The joint (50) between each belt half (12, 14) and the absorbent structure (16) is designed such that when each belt half is subjected to a tension force of 35 N acting along the belt half and the direction of applied tension creates an angle (α) to the transverse axis (T) of the absorbent structure, the following minimum average release times (t) of each belt half from the absorbent structure are attained: when α=10°, t>>720 seconds; when α=20°, t>>330 seconds; when α=25°, t>>240 seconds; when α=30°, t>>180 seconds; and when α=40°, t>>75 seconds.