With domestic violence snowballing into a public issue, many institutions in both government and civil society have begun taking a serious stand toward the dangerous phenomenon.

However, in the absence of a practical mechanism that ensures swift response to cases involving violence against women and children, the two most vulnerable groups, there is urgent need for coordinated efforts so that these groups receive proper protection. Hospitals have been leading the way in this regard, hosting seminars that seek to expose the magnitude of the problem as well as the nature of violence directed against women and children, and recommending solutions.

The problem however is too big and serious for one body to handle. What is needed is for different agencies, including the medical, social, security and legal departments, to share the responsibility toward a growing problem that if left unchecked could cause a deep scar on the body of our Muslim society.

The question that should be asked here is whether these institutions have indeed done what is required of them toward exposing the problem, enacting legislation and enforcing them as part of an overall approach that ensures everyone is protected against this kind of violence.

Statistics released by the Ministry of Social Affairs show that 300 cases involving domestic violence are registered in the Kingdom every year. The figure only represents those cases that have been reported by hospitals and the police. The majority of such cases involve violence directed against women and children. The figure of course does not reflect the true picture since many cases go unnoticed and are never reported for fear of reprisals against the victims. This is especially the case with women who usually decline to file a complaint to avoid a scandal or being brutalized further if the case was made public. Family considerations usually force the woman who decides to leave the house of an abusive husband to return to the same husband.

Studies also show that 90 percent of those who commit domestic violence against family members are males and that more than 50 percent of the reported cases are of husbands abusing wives. Many of the abusive husbands are either drug addicts or suffer from some kind of mental disorder. Here comes the role of rehabilitation centers who must ensure the case is being followed up even after the patient is discharged from hospital so that patients receive the required post-treatment counseling.

The Ministry of Social Affairs has no magic solution to the problem. Even our courts lack social counselors and therapists to help women seeking justice to save them from abusive husbands. What is needed is a joint effort to address the problem before the situation worsens further.