On the 26th
of August 2013, Saudi Arabia adopted a law that criminalizes domestic violence
and abuse.
I commend
this effort, as It is indicative that the government has finally turned its face
towards Saudi women and some of the issues that confront them.
However, I
believe that there is still so much to be done, by the government to
demonstrate its seriousness to see this through.
In a Kingdom where there is still controversy
over women driving; where women have zero participation in politics; where
women need at least six men to accompany them to court or to buy or sell any
property, expecting women to freely come forward and report cases of domestic
abuse is somewhat of a tall order.
How will
these women drive to report these crimes against them?
And will
they need credible men to testify to their legitimacy?
And if
indeed they will need men to corroborate their stories, who will the men be?
Her brothers? Her in-laws? Neighbours? I think it’s highly unlikely.
How will
the issue of ‘honour’ or male guardianship/ownership affect the women who
decide to speak out when abused?
Even in
countries where the political climes are more favorable towards women, there
is still a gap between reports of abuse against women and prosecution of cases
of these abuses.
Often
times, women who report domestic abuse or violence are brow beaten, ostracized
and emotionally blackmailed or even threatened until they withdraw these
charges against their husbands or partners who commit these crimes.
Some rural
women I work with were banned from women groups in their places of worship and
in the community; they were restricted from participating in family traditions
and get-together. Some of them were thrown out of their homes and were
forbidden from seeing their children.
Their
family and in-laws saw them as responsible for the divisions in the family,
they said.
For some of
these women, close knit family ties, social interactions and a cordial
relationship with their in-laws means the world to them. When there is an
unwritten conspiracy against them, for other members of the family and
community not to speak and associate with them because they 'sold their abusive
husbands out' they may become depressed and deeply troubled.
It is even
more difficult because many of these women do not earn their own incomes and
have almost no formal education.
If the
Saudi's government is really serious about putting a stop to domestic abuse, it
must lift existing laws and innuendos
that restrict women’s rights.
It must
empower more women by educating them, employing them, allowing them equal
opportunities as men. Employment rate of 17% for Saudi women as it is now is unacceptable.
Also, there
is need for massive re-orientation and sensitization.
Men who
perpetrate abuse of any kind against women must be called out for what they
are: that they are disturbed and need intervention. When society begins to see
abusers this way, they may be more open to reporting issues of domestic abuse
and abusers, corroborating women’s reports of abuse and helping survivors of
these abuses get back on their feet.
Older women
and mothers must also be targeted says Mama Sunday, a rural woman who lives in
Lagos. Many mothers have told their daughter’s, tales of how they endured severe
beatings by their husbands during the first years of their marriages and how
the beatings have suddenly stopped. They have grown deeply in love with their
former abusive husbands.
That is not
the story mothers or any one especially movie makers should promote.
Stories
that tell the world how these women empowered themselves to end or escape these
abuses are the ones folklore's or oral traditions and entertainment media should
promote!
