Qatar: Awareness can end abuse against women

Source ::: The Peninsula

Doha: A major change in the mindset of humanity alone can help to curb the violence against women (VAW) around the world according to speakers at the two-day international seminar on violence against women which concluded yesterday. The colloquium, Impact of Violence against Women on the Family, was organised by Doha International Institute for Family Studies and Development (DIIFSD) and the Supreme Council for Family Affairs (SCFA).

Despite number of rulings and legislations passed by different countries and organisations like United Nations, violence and discrimination against women has not been brought under control. The major reason for this is lack of awareness. World Health Organisation’s study on VAW has found that many women believe violence is normal, it’s a way the partner is supposed to behave. In many parts of the world women are expected to be submissive to their husbands at all times and violence is seen as a way to discipline a woman.

“WHO study has shown that 19 to 76 percent of women are abused in different parts of the world,” said Heriette Jansen from National Research on VAW in Turkey. “We found that among women who reported abuse by anyone, 80 percent of women reported being abused by a partner. While the popular understanding is often that women should stay home because the streets is dangerous, for many women it is actually her own home that is not safe, the place where she should be protected and loved!”

“The beliefs, values and discourses which support violence should be changed to overcome VAW. The patriarchal power which sustain and are sustained by violence should be challenged,” said Gihan Abou Zeid, an expert in Women Rights and Development in the Arab Region from Cairo.

The patriarchal power in some areas is so deep rooted that even social workers and close family give little or no attention to it. Due to this, a vast majority of 55 to 95 percent of abused women never contact formal support agency or person in authority. The response women get from their closest support system, family, when such problems are reported, makes them feel more isolated and guilty.

“For controlling this violence, education alone is not enough,” said Justice Majida Rizvi, Chair person, National Commission on the Status of Women, Pakistan. “In order to bring reform in the underlying cultural values of society, the structure supporting patriarchal violence against women and children efforts must be made to change the mind-set of the people. This includes women who often learn to accept their low status as normal due to unrelenting socialisation, and at cultural institutions such as schools, family, mosques, government and law enforcement agencies. It entails changing gender roles and social norms, opening economic opportunities to women and improving self respect for children and women’s status by dismantling patriarchal structures,” she said.