Protecting Women from Abuse in Althulatha Cultural Forum

On the occasion of Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women which coincides November 25, Althulatha Cultural Forum held a seminar entitled “Protecting Women from Abuse: between the Reality and Desired”.
The seminar was moderated by Musa Al-Hashem, who talked about various forms of abuses against women in the world, despite the diversity of cultures and religions. He stressed on addressing the reasons behind such behavior, also spoke about the importance of introducing educational programs to tackle this issue.
Nasima Al-Sadah, a human right activist lectured about the importance of discussing violence issues against women. At the beginning of her speech, she explained why that United Nation had chosen November 25, as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Al-Sadah defined violence against women as “actions mainly carrying out by men causing physical or psychological suffering to women including threats, coercion and deprivation of liberty”. Although she pointed to the lack of statistics on violence against women, Al-Sadah referred to Dr. Hala Al-Dosari’s study about the prevalence of violence in Saudi Arabia. The study showed that 45% of Saudi women had experienced physical violence from their husbands, 18% of them needed medical intervention while only 6.5% of women reported violence cases.
It also showed that 90% of women refuse using violence under any justifications, yet most of them support males’ right of beating wives who cheat on their husbands. The study revealed that 70% of women are financially dependent on their husbands and that abused women use antidepressants and tending more to suicide.
Regarding equality with men, half of the women are with the sovereignty of males in the family, and most of them agreed not tell any specialized centers about their marital problems.
She said that “there is physical, psychological and sexual violence practiced on women” indicating that responsible organizations should condemn and criminalize violence whatever the reasons were.
Al-Sadah pointed that there are 17 Committees for protecting women from violence in various regions of Saudi Arabia, calling to introduce national programs to combat violence and educate women about their rights. She confirmed on the responsibility of the state in eliminating violence against women through enacting laws criminalize such abuses.
On the other hand Osama Al-Jama, a psychiatrist talked about the impact of domestic violence on individuals’ character, including tendency to power, isolation and psychological disturbances.
He said that “domestic violence includes physical, sexual, emotional and economic abuse” pointing to the early signs of psychological disturbances such as jealousy, excessive sensitivity and emotional extortion.
Al-Jama referred to the causes of accepting domestic violence such as fear, lack of financial income, children and sanctification of males.
He said that “Battered women are usually having weak personality and suffer from depression and introversion” adding that these psychological effects may affect children as well representing in weak academic performance, bedwetting, seeing nightmares, sleep disorders, depression and in some cases suicide.
Mohammed al-Jishi, a lawyer pointed to the absence of women’s right in Saudi society. He referred to the protection system which issued last year, explaining that people who are subject to violence should report the Ministry of Social Affairs through calling 1919.
He said that “there is no specific punishment for abuser because the cases are infinite” pointed that Specialized Court has to take the opinion of the Ministry to find more effective sanctions to change the behavior of the abuser.
Attendees wondered about the ways to educate people about human rights and about the solutions for domestic violence. They also demand to highlight the role of the family and society which raise individuals to look to women as inferior creature. They added that abused women isolate themselves from the society, stressing on the importance of equality between males and females and avoiding utilize religious interpretations to justify violence against women.