Speaking out against abuse

HUMAN rights activists and groups in Saudi Arabia have, for some time, been calling for legislation to criminalise domestic violence and impose ‘severe punishment’ on offenders.

One such group is the country’s National Society for Human Rights (NHSR), which received a ‘high rate of [domestic abuse] cases’ in 2007 and reported in 2009 a ‘noticeable increase in instances of abuse’.

Nevertheless, ‘King Abdullah and his government have taken few concrete measures over the past four years to address the problems of domestic violence,’ according to a report published last September by global organisation Human Rights Watch. 

‘The [Saudi] government has been unable or unwilling to pass a law criminalising domestic violence and offering protection, redress, and rehabilitation to its victims,’ the report stated.

The senior researcher of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch, Christoph Wilcke, told Lapido Media that the Saudi ‘guardianship system’ and its gender segregation policies were among the obstacles to curbing domestic abuse,

‘The problem is that women cannot really report domestic violence,’ said Mr Wilcke, before pointing out that Saudi women are unable to talk to police officers without the presence of a male guardian – i.e. the person likely to be carrying out the abuse.

‘A woman cannot speak for herself towards any person of authority; that’s one of the big problems,’ he said. ‘We know that there are lots of domestic violence problems going around in Saudi Arabia – but we’re unable to say it’s “more than X or less than Y”.’

Although the issue is now being discussed more openly in Saudi society, Human Rights Watch sees ‘no evidence of change’ in way that officials respond to reports of violence.

‘Not too long ago we received some individual accounts of doctors who had seen a rape victim or a battered woman – or even a child – at the hospital and had tried to alert the police.

‘But then the head doctor or the police said, ‘this is a family affair; it’s not something that concerns us’,’ Mr Wilcke commented.

Another problem, he said, was the fact that ‘many aspects of domestic violence do not register with Saudis – mainly men, but some women maybe too’.

He explained: ‘Verbal abuse just doesn’t register. Locking a woman in the house all day doesn’t register. There are some who give some Islamic justification for it … that does exist.

‘But the main point really is to make sure the law enforcement agents are available; that there are shelters that aren’t prisons; that they take complaints seriously; that they have procedures to isolate the suspected perpetrator from the victim; and that they take the victim’s statement in confidence and offer some alternative arrangements when the process is ongoing.’

‘And then we need some high-profile court cases to send the message that ‘This is indeed a crime, it’s not okay, and you will be sent to prison’,’ Mr Wilcke added.

The Human Rights Watch researcher suggested that a ‘spark’ for the growing attention on domestic violence in Saudi Arabia was the much-publicised case of Rania al-Baz, one of the kingdom’s best-known television presenters.

Ms Baz was almost beaten to death by her husband in 2004. Global attention was drawn to the case after pictures of her injuries were released, leading to Saudi Arabia’s first successful prosecution for domestic violence.