Published Date: January 10, 2011 By Hussain Al-Qatari, Staff Writer at Kuwait Times
KUWAIT: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) recently revealed that 35 percent of women in Kuwait have reported being subjected to domestic abuse. This stunning finding came in a study released by the Ministry of Justice, conducted by Appeal Court counselor Dr Adel Al-Failakawi. The study further revealed that Kuwait saw a total of 5,192 divorce cases in 2010, an increase of 138 on the previous year's total.
Dr Al-Failakawi also used MoJ statistics for the ten years between 1995 and 2005 to work out the average period taken by unhappy couples to decide on divorce, finding that 39 percent of divorces occur after one year of marriage, while a further 28 percent occur before the couple has even reached the first wedding anniversary.
Family counselor Khaled Al-Mohammadi told the Kuwait Times that most divorces occur because of lack of communication: "Couples don't know how to communicate with one another," he said. "They get married because they feel obliged to find a spouse. When it comes to fulfilling their responsibilities at home, they don't know how to speak to one another, so their marriage falls apart.
Worries around finance are another major factor in the equation, Al-Mohammadi continued: "In most cases, wives complain that their husbands are not able to support the family financially with enough money. Financial instability, caused by young men's reckless financial behavior and lack of awareness on how to manage their finances, causes domestic instability. The new MoJ report states that domestic abuse is one of the main reasons for divorce, with 30 percent of divorce cases citing domestic abuse as the reason.
Kuwait University psychology professor Adnan Al-Shatti said in a report published by KUNA that local patriarchal traditions mean that domestic violence is widespread in the country. "Men are encouraged from an early age to be macho, and it is a widespread misconception that hitting women proves one's masculinity. It is a problem that's neglected, and it only encourages men to use violence at home even more. Individuals who practice violence against their wives, siblings and children in most cases need therapy," he said.
Dr Al-Failakawi also noted that the number of domestic violence cases being reported is increasing, with a very small number of these concerning violence perpetrated by parents against children. Most cases of domestic violence, however, are filed by wives against their husbands.
The MoJ intends to open a department shortly dealing specifically with domestic issues in an attempt to reduce the number of divorces in the country. The new department, whose roster of staff will include social workers, family consultants, psychiatrists, judges and eminent religious figures, will focus on raising public awareness of the related issues.
According to Wikipedia:
Prosecution for domestic violence.
According to Ahmad Shafaat, an Islamic scholar, "If the husband beats a wife without respecting the limits set down by the Qur'an and Hadith, then she can take him to court and if ruled in favor has the right to apply the law of retaliation and beat the husband as he beat her."
However, laws against domestic violence, as well as whether these laws are enforced, vary throughout the Muslim world.
Domestic violence is not explicitly prohibited in Pakistani domestic law and most acts of domestic violence are encompassed by the Qisas and Diyat Ordinance. Nahida Mahboob Elahi, a human rights lawyer, has said that new laws are needed to better protect women. The police and judges often tend to treat domestic violence as a non-justiciable, private or family matter or, an issue for civil courts, rather than criminal courts. In Pakistan, "police often refuse to register cases unless there are obvious signs of injury and judges sometimes seem to sympathise with the husbands."
In Saudi Arabia, only in 2004 did the first successful prosecution for domestic violence occur after international attention was drawn to the case of Rania al-Baz.
In Tunisia, domestic violence is illegal and punishable by five years in prison.
LWDLIK- Quite astounding! How about those Tunisians 5 years in jail for domestic violence :OD WTG Tunisia. But watching a wife beat her abusive husband in public takes the prize. Where do we get tickets for that? And why is it not implemented? Maybe the patriarchal powers that be decided to overlook that one?
A list of the ten worst countries and conditions for women [link] and they are very grim.
Dear LWDLIK, compliments on a great post. Nonetheless, I don't think anything contributes to violence against another human being - including one being abused themself. Anyone who turns their maids into a punch bag does so without justification. Infact if one has ever been abused & cringed as a result of terror, they would know better than to perpertrate that elsewhere compared to a non abused person precisely because, they should know better about pain.
ReplyDeleteKuwait is a country where divorce IS common & women don't live in the same conditions where its unthinkable for a woman - uneducated, country based bias etc - to leave a man. So if you've got a man punching you around, get out, don't stay & decide to butterfly effect it onto other people.
People ALWAYS have a choice. You can choose to act like the human you are or the animal you're trying to emulate. People have made that choice - even against risk to their lives - like where so many German citizens actually helped the people who were being prosecuted by Hitler or so many "whites" helped "slaved" people escape along secret routes or treated them right during those times when they had no legal "rights".
Bottom line, one can't choose to claim abuse as a contributing factor unless of course one admits, they are less "evolved". It'd help them to direct that same anger against people hitting them in the first place instead rt?
Dear Anon, Yes I would have to agree that's what I'm saying; if someone chooses to use another person to physically or emotionally take out their pent-up aggression on, then they are less evolved. That to me is a logical reason for behaving in such a manner. That and no fear of the consequences.
ReplyDeleteOh and thank you for a great post :OD
ReplyDeleteForce is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived. ~Abraham Lincoln
ReplyDeleteTo the brave lady who 2 days ago lost her life when her ex-husband (whom she had reported to the police as violent and stalking her)murdered her in a parking-lot with a machete. May she rest in peace. She did everything right, she divorced him and reported him to the police but sadly it was not enough to save her. Very sad.
Thank you for your response LWDLIK. May the woman you speak of, rest in peace. There are times when I find it hard to believe we're in the 21st century when confronted with such barbaric acts.
ReplyDelete