WUNRN
16 August 2011 - Family courts should be set
up in the Kingdom and couples undergo pre-marital counseling to help counter
increasing instances of domestic violence and help save marriages. This has
been proposed by Dr. Waleed Al-Sadoon, an adviser at the Ministry of Islamic
Affairs, Endowments, Call (Dawah) and Guidance. “This will help curtail family
violence cases that have spread in our society.” Al-Sadoon also called for a
center to be set up to deal with cases involving assault of male and female
students. The center should be connected to schools, hospitals and the police,
according to Al-Sadoon.
“Women
should be employed at police stations to deal with women-related cases because
many Saudi women are not aware of the laws. They fear the police and hesitate
to report violence against them. Moreover, security forces need to develop
methods to tackle these cases secretly.”
A
domestic violence study, conducted by Al-Sadoon, has revealed that most victims
are not aware of their rights. The study said that the lack of Dawah activists
and qualified experts on family violence is hampering efforts to counter this
phenomenon.
There
is also a lack of courses on the subject. The study said that most Dawah
activists have not taken courses and most are men. Women represent 10 percent
of Dawah activists. The study has revealed that the increasing number of social
problems is due to the integration of different cultures. It has also revealed
that studies conducted by the Anti-Crime Department of the Ministry of Interior
about child abuse in Saudi society, has revealed that 45 percent of children
are subject to daily abuse. Al-Sadoon recommended that mosques should play a
bigger role in educating people about the risks of family violence. He also
called for the establishment of a higher national committee supervised by the
Ministry of Social Affairs.
The
committee should set up a central and national database to gather statistics,
information and data related to family violence crimes. “Verbal violence among
family members is the most common type of violence. Riyadh is number one in
terms of family violence cases in the Kingdom while the Northern Region has the
lowest rate at two percent.” The study revealed that the most violence took
place against wives, at 53.8 percent. It said that the uneducated commit 19.1
percent of assaults while the educated commit 23.8 percent and those who have
intermediate education certificate commit 25.7 percent. Those who hold higher
academic degrees commit 5.7 percent of assaults.