RIYADH, 29 March 2006 — Saudis are concealing data relating to women and children when claiming social insurance benefits, according to the Ministry of Social Affairs. In a statement, it said men were withholding the documents needed by women for their social insurance payment.
The official disclosure by the ministry came during an announcement that more than 267,000 Saudi families received their payments by ATM, marking a departure from the conventional practice of going to the bank to cash the check. The amount of SR280 million has been disbursed so far, it said.
In another development, a representative of the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) said that the organization had investigated 5,000 cases of child abuse and domestic violence since its inception in 2004.
“Thirty percent of the 5,000 cases involve domestic violence, including physical and sexual abuse by family members, as well as financial and psychological abuse,” said NSHR Research Director Suhaila Hammad.
Asked to comment on the incidence of child and women abuse, Ali Al-Henaki, director general of the Social Research and Study Center at the ministry, sought to play down the issue. “It has been exaggerated by the media lately. We have investigated this issue and conducted a field survey in which we met psychologists, educational specialists and police officers. We found out that the number of children and women abuse cases is relatively small,” he said, adding that the abuse is mostly verbal. “Most of the abuse occurs when the abusers use drugs. Also a considerable number of child abuse cases occur in families where divorce has occurred.”
