JEDDAH: The National Family Safety Program organized on Tuesday, with the cooperation of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Saudi Law Training Center, a seminar entitled “The Role of Judicial and Security Institutions in Fighting Domestic Abuse.”
The purpose of the forum was to raise awareness about developing a legal structure that will curb domestic abuse. The seminar started with a presentation on the efforts to eliminate the problem of domestic violence.
The Human Rights Commission, the National Society for Human Rights, the Social Affairs Ministry, the Investigation and Prosecution Board, the Kingdom’s general courts, the Ministry of Justice and law enforcement officials are cooperating to establish mechanisms and gather as much information and statistics possible to eliminate domestic abuse.
Col. Mohammed Saeed Al-Qahtani was one of the speakers in the seminar representing the law-enforcement agencies. He said domestic abuse has become one of the most important issues in Saudi society.
“Family is the main aspect of any society, and since this problem has increased we must make all efforts to fight it so we can protect our society,” said Al-Qahtani, adding that police play a “vital” role in protecting women and children from abuse at home by filing reports and even taking the victims to hospital. Police file domestic abuse reports and then the Investigation and Prosecution Board and the Social Protection Commission of the Ministry of Social Affairs handle the cases.
Abdul Al-Razag Al-Fahal, deputy manager of the Investigation and Prosecution Board in Makkah province, explained the penal law concerning domestic abuse.
“The responsibility of the Social Protection Commission is to receive domestic abuse reports, to investigate the given reports and set the right solutions, to provide a safe shelter for the abused, to set up a database for this phenomenon and to coordinate with the Social Protection Office,” said Al-Fahal.
At the end of his speech, Al-Fahal reviewed some of the negative aspects that may impede the fight against violence and limit the protection of the family, including the aversion of school officials or hospital workers to get involved with private internal family matters.
Rashed Al-Hazzaa, director of the Jeddah General Court, made the concluding remarks at the seminar. He reviewed some of the most brutal abuse cases that happened in recent years. He also targeted corporal punishment as a form of abuse.
“Violence has so many faces, and one is parental-care abuse, such as corporal punishment for disciplining children,” he said, describing this kind of violence as an “infringement on the rights of minors.”
UNICEF and the World Health Organization have both conducted studies that show most domestic abuse occurs inside the home.
According to Al-Hazzaa, reports released by UNICEF reveals disturbing statistics regarding the frequency of physical and sexual abuse inside the home.
“According to a WHO report, women are abused inside their own houses more than any other place, such as work or streets,” he said.
“We all admit there is the problem but what matters most is how we deal with this problem, how we eliminate it and how we find solutions,” said Al-Hazzaa, who also reviewed some cases where fathers block their daughters’ desire to get married by abusing the role of legal guardian (mahram) as prescribed in Islam.
“In cases we receive complaints from women we try to be as confidential and quick as possible,” said Al-Hazzaa. Most such cases end in obtaining the father’s consent for marriage through some specialized court committees, he said. “If not, the father is summoned to come to court and present himself to the judge to discuss the reasons and solutions.”
He gave an example of a 36-year-old woman who filed a complaint when a suitor came to marry her and her father disagreed. She had six sisters, all of whom were not married.
The judge tried to solve the problem with the father but he could not. He summoned the father to court to discuss his reasons for depriving his daughter of the right to getting married. It turned out the father had calculated the cost of raising the daughter at SR95,000. He wanted the daughter to pay him the money before he would allow her to be married.
“This was a painful case and it indicated corruption and lack of morals in our society. This man is very rich but he was ignorant,” he said.
Al-Hazzaa also pointed out that the most violent cases tend to be those involving custody disputes between separated spouses.
He reminded his listeners of the cases of Ghosun and Areej, the two children whom their own fathers murdered after continuous physical abuse. When Al-Hazzaa said those fathers had been sentenced to death, the audience applauded.
