Violence against women unabated
Published: 1st September 2006
Violence against women is a global issue, but in Bahrain it continues unabated because of society’s failure to confront it, say campaigners who are determined to break the silence. KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED reports.
ONE in every three women is a victim of some form of abuse, according to global statistics. Most of these women will have suffered at the hands of members of their family or people known to them, say experts.
A group of lawyers, doctors, education workers and activists is now hoping to break the silence on abuse rates in Bahrain, which they believe is an important start for serious efforts to tackle the problem.
Violence against women unabated
Published: 1st September 2006
Violence against women is a global issue, but in Bahrain it continues unabated because of society’s failure to confront it, say campaigners who are determined to break the silence. KANWAL TARIQ HAMEED reports.
ONE in every three women is a victim of some form of abuse, according to global statistics. Most of these women will have suffered at the hands of members of their family or people known to them, say experts.
A group of lawyers, doctors, education workers and activists is now hoping to break the silence on abuse rates in Bahrain, which they believe is an important start for serious efforts to tackle the problem.
The Al Sharaka-Amnesty International (AI) Partnership on Violence Against Women was formed in 2004, when AI launched its global Stop Violence Against Women programme.
Its 20-member core group is made up of men and women from Bahrain societies and organisations – including doctors, lawyers, education workers, members of women’s societies, human rights activists and youth society members.
They are working to implement recommendations of AI’s international conference on discrimination and violence against women, which was held in Bahrain in January last year.
“Our ambition is to find a solution for abuse and violence against women, not only through (Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), but with the co-operation of the government,” AI Bahrain campaigns head Fawzia Rabea told the GDN.
She said the country had to identify the problem areas in order to tackle them.
“There are no statistics of documented cases of abuse in Bahrain, but we went to the police stations and we were shocked to see that they had started to document the cases (on a special form),” said Ms Rabea.
“This is a good sign – at least there is some work. As a ministry they (the Interior Ministry) have started to get statistics on the cases.
“We are trying to push, as defenders, to get the government to start dealing with this issue, at least to know how many abused women we have.
“And not just the statistics, but by whom or where the abused women are abused – is it the father, husband, mother, other women, or even in the workplace?”
The first step in recording abuse cases is a simple form produced by the group to be filled out by hospital or health centre staff and police station officials, when a case of abuse is reported, says Al Sharaka.
The form records the injury or incident as a case of abuse against women and also contains a number of other questions, including the situation in which the abuse occurred and the education, income and background of abusers and victims.
“Through this form we can realise the reason why (abuse occurs),” said Ms Rabea.
“For example, is it if the (abusive) husband is not educated or the opposite, is it if her husband is educated and qualified and she is not ?
“If it is the husband, is it because of alcohol, drugs or problems he has had since he was a child ?
“With this form we can analyse the reasons exactly why this happened, not only the statistics.
“For me the important questions it asks are the age of the husband and the age of the wife when they got married.
“Globally, they have found that a problem is when the family pushes women to get married early – this is one of the reasons why women faces violence inside the family.”
Ms Rabea said that from personal experience of tackling women’s abuse, most cases occur within families and often result from financial problems.
“Most of the problems of abuse and violence inside the family are linked to the financial side,” she said.
“If families face problems financially, other problems start inside the family.
“Suppose the husband is not working, or his wages are not enough to cover all of the expenses in the family – so the problem starts.”
From personal experience, education does not have a very significant effect on violence, she added.
“You will find abusive violent husbands whether they are educated or not,” she said.
However, cases of violence against women often do not reach the police station and many will be recorded as accidents at health centres and hospitals, revealed Ms Rabea.
“I always say that the home a woman comes from is not just for shelter only, it should give her dignity,” she said.
“When a woman reaches the police station, this means it is the end for her.
“She has to speak out and say ‘I am abused’ because when it reaches the police that means there is no solution for her, it is a very important step.
“Maybe if she goes to the doctor, she might hide this and the doctor will treat her as a patient, not an abused woman.
“But as a whole in Bahrain it is not easy for women to say ‘I am an abused woman’, because our culture does not let her say that and society blames her and will treat her differently.
“She will be scared her family might blame her for doing this and maybe she is scared of getting divorced, or afraid of losing her children. Maybe she is not working and depends on her husband financially.
“Besides all this, there is no law for protection here.
“When she speaks out, if there was a law, it would be encouraging her to say: ‘I am abused, please, I need help’.
“There is no Personal Status Law in Bahrain, there are no shelters to protect women and to protect their family.”
Another dimension of the problem is deep-seated discrimination against women, said Ms Rabea.
“Gender-based discrimination and violence are very closely inter-linked,” she said.
“Discrimination against women starts from birth.
“In Bahrain there is discrimination against women in employment, women get less wages than men and in employment and politics there are some positions which women are not allowed to reach.
“Al Sharaka is now studying what the discrimination in Bahrain and we will fight to end this.”
Discrimination leads to an imbalance in power, which makes women more susceptible to abuse and violence, she said.
“As long as there is no discrimination, there is no violence,” claimed Ms Rabea.
“Discrimination starts in the home, how the mother treats the boys and the girls.
“Outside the family you can realise that all the laws are against the women and with the men.”
The government has a crucial role in finding out levels of abuse in society and protecting women from being hurt, said Ms Rabea.
“We don’t know how many abused women there are in Bahrain and statistics from the police stations are not available,” she said.
“I mean, nobody knows about their statistics, nobody puts it in the newspaper – they do not announce it.
“My suggestion is that the government’s first measures towards eradicating violence against women should include comprehensive recording and statistical monitoring of its prevalence.
“No matter how much this problem is – we have do to this.”
Work has already begun with the Health Ministry and Interior Ministry, she said.
“We decided to meet the Health Minister Dr Nada Haffadh and she was willing to accept our idea and study it.
“We have asked her to release this form in all the health centres in Bahrain and also the emergency section.”
A special health ministry committee, which includes Al Sharaka members, exists to deal with abused women, she said.
“This is really a big step for us and the Ministry under Dr Nada Haffadh is fantastic – she has been very helpful and understanding,” added Ms Rabea.
“Before we release this form and before the committee starts its work we promised the ministry training for doctors and nurses and anyone dealing with women in the Health Ministry.”
The training of selected Health Ministry doctors, nurses, social workers and other officials will be conducted in conjunction with Beirut-based AI representatives in November this year.
They will learn about documenting cases of abuse and dealing with abuse victims.
“For us, if the doctor fills out the form it is not enough – he has to understand what the human rights principles are, so that he can deal with her, not only fill out the form,” said Ms Rabea.
“We have to educate the doctors first on how to get this information, how to deal with these women and then how to fill out the form.”
The forms have also been given to Interior Ministry officials to study, Ms Rabea added.
“There are forms for the police stations as well – they already have their own forms, but we gave them this form as an example for them to study,” she said.
“With statistical information at least we will know about the extent of violence against women.
“Then maybe if husbands and wives feel that there are statistics behind them in the health sector, the police stations, or the courts, it will encourage women to say if she has been abused and the husband will take more care in future not to abuse her.”
The Al Sharaka campaign also hopes to take the issue to the courts and ensure women’s protection through legislation.
“We are willing to reach the courts,” said Ms Rabea.
“It is our goal to reach the Justice Ministry, because when the (abuse) case finishes from the police station, it is transferred to Public Prosecution and we want to see what goes on after that.
“Anyway, there is no punishment law here, so why does this case go to the Public Prosecution?
“Maybe they will charge the abuser BD50 if it is a big problem, but as a whole there is no law to punish the abusers.
“The government or state should treat violence against women as a crime – we want legislation and laws to be there.”
MP Abullatif Al Shaikh has written a proposal for a punishment law, which has been reviewed by Al Sharaka lawyers, who offered their ideas.
“This is a very big step also, because we want to see a punishment law become reality in Bahrain,” said Ms Rabea.
The media also plays a crucial role in raising the issue and dealing with it, she added.
“The Information Ministry plays a very important role in this programme because it is in their hands to show this issue or hide this issue,” she said.
A Bahrain TV talk show discussing violence against women with an activist, a judge and a lawyer was a good example of the media playing its role in tackling the issue, she said.
“It was a very important step,” said Ms Rabea.
“We want them to continue this, we want them as much as they can to show this problem and find the solutions with the specialists, the doctors, lawyers and judges.”
Another aim is to make sure that women do not have to face abuse alone.
“The state or government has a duty to protect women from violence, under international human rights law,” said Ms Rabea.
“It must exercise due diligence to ensure women’s rights to equality, security, and freedom from discrimination and degrading treatment.”
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