The Saudi government plans to introduce new measures to tackle the growing incidence of violence against women and children in the country, according to reliable sources.

This includes a focus on providing protection, assistance, treatment, shelter, care, and psychological treatment for victims. Severe penalties for offenders are also under study. Discussions on the new system will begin next week, the sources said.

Arab News reported recently that Riyadh has the most cases of sexual harassment in the Kingdom with 2,797 incidents, followed by Jeddah with 250, Eastern Province with 210, Makkah with 180, and Madinah with 170. The report said that 59.9 percent of the cases involved Saudis.

Earlier, Maha Al-Muneef, executive director of the National Family Safety Program, said: “Twelve children died as a result of domestic violence in 2012, double the number from the previous year.”

There was public outrage and shock last week when 20 men were caught on video harassing five women in Dhahran.

Shoura Council member Thuraya Al-Oraidh recently praised the Kingdom for its “increased public awareness that has improved reporting of abuse cases.”

Last August, the Saudi government criminalized domestic violence. The government also assigned the Ministry of Education to take over the responsibility of receiving reports involving child violence through its hotline.