Saudi Arabia: State to protect women and kids from domestic violence

JEDDAH — There will soon be new regulations to protect women and children from domestic violence in Saudi Arabia, according to Hussein Al Sharif, head of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR).

“There will be severe punishment for abusers and a new system to rehabilitate victims into society,” Al Sharif said. He said that people blame the NSHR when children are abused.

“People mistakenly think that the NSHR is an executive body. We are only tasked with monitoring and informing. Our role is to watch over governmental bodies and observe whether they respect human rights according to ratified international conventions and Shariah,” he explained.

“When we receive a complaint about child abuse we inform the concerned bodies, such as police and the ministry of social affairs, so they can take action. Then we monitor. This is the role of a human rights organisation, not only here but all over the world,” he said.

“We need to criminalise violence and all kinds of abuse. There is nothing on earth that justifies abuse,” Dr Majid Al Essa, head of the medical section at the National Family Safety Programme (NFSP), said recently.

“It is the foremost responsibility of every individual to help change the mindset that accepts abuse,” she added.

Dr Maha Al Munief, executive director, said NFSP aims to set up a national strategy to minimise the effects of domestic abuse. “We want NGOs to come forward in support of the programme. We want women and children to know their rights and ask for them,” she said.

In a study carried out by Dr Ali Al Zahrani, consultant psychologist for children and adolescents, on 3,000 students of primary, elementary and high school levels, it was discovered that 25 per cent of them were physically abused and 15 per cent sexually abused.

It may be noted that Princess Adela bint Abdullah has stressed the need for a professional strategy to create a balance in relationships between family members, because abuse of women and children is a real threat to the stability of the Saudi society.

Princess Adela said that one in every six women is abused daily verbally, physically, or emotionally. She said that 90 per cent of abusers are men.

“This is not a small number. Abuse against women and children is increasing astonishingly,” she added. Al Sharif said that there is a problem accommodating victims of domestic violence in Saudi Arabia.

During a meeting with General Turki Al Quinawy, head of the Makkah police, on Saturday, Al Sharif said that the holy city of Makkah area is in need of shelters to house victims of domestic violence.

Al Quinawy told Al Sharif that the police face difficulties, as there are only a few women’s shelters in holy city of Makkah. “We face a problem accommodating victims of domestic violence. Sometimes we leave them in the juvenile detention centres,” he said and suggested two ways of dealing with domestic violence.

“We need to increase people’s awareness about the problem and find official bodies — such as police centres, the Investigation and Prosecution Board, and the ministry of social affairs that could deal with the matter,” he said.

Speaking about existing shelters in Taif and Jeddah, Al Quinawy said that even the few in Taif and Jeddah need a lot of maintenance and improvements. Al Sharif said that during his visits to the Kingdom’s prisons, the NSHR did not find people illegally imprisoned.

“NSHR has not detected any cases like this, but sometimes papers are issued late,” he said.

“Through our periodic field investigations, we make reports that include positive and negative observations. We sustain the positive ones and try to offer suggestions to solve the negative ones,” he added.

By Habib Shaikh, Khaleej Times Online