Special courts to settle family disputes urged

RIYADH — Two female Shoura Council members have called for the establishment of special courts to settle inter-family conflicts in the light of the increasing cases of domestic violence. The two members, according to local daily Al-Madina on Monday, have also called for the setting up of special committees comprising social workers and guides to enlighten the students about the hazards of the domestic violence. The two members made the call following the announcement of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs that it had last year received more than 11,000 complaints of family violence. “This is a big number though many cases slip by without being reported,” said Samia Abdullah Bukhari, member of the council’s committee on social affairs, family and youth. She attributed the large number of the cases of domestic violence to the lack of understanding of the rights and duties among family members and the wrong belief that physical beating of the children is a good method of upbringing. Bukhari also blamed poverty and non-employment to be among the many reasons behind domestic violence. “Lack of culture of dialogue among family members, psychological pressures resulting from deteriorating economic conditions, and unmanageable anger are also among the various other causes of family violence,” she said. She called for spreading awareness through the social media about the dangers and evil consequences of family violence. “All the concerned departments should join hands to provide work opportunities to the citizens so as to cut down the number of of cases of family violence,” she said. Noura Al-Musaid, another female committee member, believes that the number of cases of domestic violence announced by the ministry, though unprecedented, was an evidence that efforts being exerted to curb domestic violence were on the right path. “It is the children who are paying the price of life pressures on their parents,” she said. Musaid said the economic dependence of some wives on their husbands makes it difficult for them to free themselves from a marriage which is based on violence. She also said the perpetrators of family violence should not escape punishment even if the victims pardoned them. The committee’s chairman Abdullah Al-Fouzan, believes that there are efforts to curb domestic violence but they are scattered and have to be brought together under one roof. He said though the cases of domestic violence are high in the Kingdom but they still remain to be much less than in other countries. “This is a complex social phenomenon which needs combing efforts and making special legislations to deal with,” he said. Al-Fouzan asked the ministries of labor and social development, justice, health, education, interior, culture and information and human rights organizations to shoulder their responsibilities in fighting domestic violence. He urged the Ministry of Labor and Social Development to make an in-depth study of this phenomenon and to formulate a comprehensive strategy to fight it.