JEDDAH, 1 November — This year’s International Day for Psychological Health focused on violence against women and children. In conjunction with this event, Jeddah Psychiatric Hospital organized a weeklong display at Hera’a Mall last week which addressed the issue and sought to raise public awareness. “This is the third year we have had a display at Hera’a Mall because we want to reach out directly to the public,” said Samira Al-Ghamdi, a psychologist and the hospital’s media and education office director.
Besides handing out brochures about the causes, symptoms and of preventing violence against women and children, the display also included a private booth where people could talk to professional psychologists. “Every year we receive more people asking about different psychological problems,” commented Al-Ghamdi. She was, however, disappointed by the low turnout at the seminar for women at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 14 October. “We advertised the seminar everywhere but the low turnout reflects our society’s lack of awareness of the issue’s importance,” she said.
In her opening remarks at the seminar, Aljowhara Al-Angari said the reason we lacked solutions for the problem is because there is insufficient awareness of it as evidenced by the small number of people attending. She said, “We want to discuss the issue of violence in our society against women and children and the role of our social institutions,” she said. “At the end of the presentations by our professional panel, we allowed time for questions and comments from the public because we want their input and involvement.” Al-Angari pointed out to Arab News, “We want to eliminate this disease by raising awareness of it. Our tendency is to neglect issues that lead to violence.” Among the causes are violence on television though that is but one cause; real events such as what is happening in Palestine and Afghanistan also influence children. “Such scenes affect the child’s perceptions and behavior which he will express in his relationships with his siblings and friends,” she said. There are also changes in our lives and pressures that may result in drug abuse or psychological and mental illnesses which in turn may lead to violence and abuse. However, the most direct cause is parents’ treatment of their children and of each other. “It is an established fact that those who are abused will themselves be abusers,” said Al-Angari. “A complete program of awareness has to be developed for society as a whole, from individuals to institutions and particularly parents,”. She said that even though violence is present in our society like every society, we cannot call it a phenomenon because we lack exact statistics. She recommended that educational institutions be more attentive to children and be able to provide help. As for women, she recommended establishing support groups in every neighborhood or at least a hot line which women can call anonymously for advice and help. “We should try to facilitate ways in which women and children can help themselves and protect themselves from abuse,” said Al-Angari.
One of the presenters at the seminar was Nora Al-Sheikh, the general director of women’s social services in Makkah. She gave examples of incidents of violence and abuse and explained that there are different kinds of abuse — physical, verbal, sexual and psychological — and this includes a recent phenomenon in our society which is the seizure of women’s salaries by their fathers or husbands. “At the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs we have established a new department for protecting women and children,” said Al-Sheikh. “We have made arrangements and implemented procedures through legal and law enforcement channels as well as providing safe houses after we investigate the cases brought to our attention.”
Etidal Etewi, a psychologist and director of social services at King Fahd Hospital, spoke about family violence, its causes and how to prevent it. “Family violence is not new but studies show that it’s increasing,” she said. “In order to raise awareness, we need to conduct further studies on why family violence is increasing. We should not only make suggestions and recommendations about preventing it but actually take some effective steps to do so.” Many cases of abuse of children and women abuse go unrecorded because the person doesn’t know where to seek help or perhaps is afraid or ashamed to speak of the ordeal. A psychologist working alone is not enough, according to Etewi. What is needed is the cooperation of all social institutions and all members of society.
