RIYADH: The latest report from the Human Rights Commission’s women’s branch in Riyadh revealed that the complaints department received 275 cases in 2009, 24 percent of which were domestic-violence cases.
The report said the branch succeeded in resolving 89 percent of total cases.
The Riyadh branch received 37 cases of documents complaints, 65 violence complaints, 20 complaints pertaining to prisoners’ rights, 11 labor rights complaints, 60 complaints related to administration and legal violation as well as 60 various cases.
The report pointed out the main obstacle facing women in obtaining their rights were their ignorance of their rights and their children’s rights.
Fifty-one percent of the cases presented to the women’s branch were divorce and custody cases. Women were denied divorce and inheritance. Women were also forbidden from seeing their children and their rights to obtain custody were denied.
On the other hand 93 percent of cases presented to the Human Rights Commission were related to women’s identification documents that restore their rights.
Domestic violence, according to the report, reached 65 cases in 2009 whereas drugs were the main motive behind women being abused, forming 35 percent of the total cases of violence against women.
The report said the women’s branch is exerting the utmost efforts in following up of children’s cases in all educational, health, social and civil societies, focusing on educating women of their rights.
The branch also works on educating workers in this field.
Regarding cases related to children’s rights, the branch received only seven cases in 2009.
Makkah branch
The women’s department at the HRC’s Makkah branch revealed that mistreatment topped the cases it has received.
A total of 289 complaints were presented to the branch in 2009, of which 227 were by Saudi women and 47 by non-Saudis women plus 14 cases of Saudi and non-Saudi men.
The Makkah branch report disclosed that 36 percent of the cases presented to the women’s department were solved while 77 cases were dismissed because the cases were settled amicably or not eligible.
Cases seeking protection for mistreatment—at work places, study places or in the family—were the most common cases, as they reached 84, followed by 40 cases related to prisoners’ rights.
The branch was presented with 31 cases related to nationality, 25 labor cases, 23 cases of the right to seek legal consultation, 22 cases of the right to social care and 17 cases of the right to adequate living standards. The women’s branch received a limited number of complaints to protect the right for ownership, health care and marriage.
The HRC recommends increasing job opportunities for women in its report of women status in the Kingdom.
“The Commission referred to an article in the 8th Development Plan of the Kingdom as evidence of the Kingdom's determination to take steady steps into the development of women derived from many texts and teaching in the Islamic Shariah, which stands against every violation and breaching of women's rights,” said an HRC statement.
