Domestic violence redefined: 5 percent of Saudi women beat up their husbands
Domestic violence redefined: 5 percent of Saudi women beat up their husbands
About five percent of the married Saudi women regularly beat their husbands, according to a study conducted by Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Muqbil, a staff member of Al-Qassim University who is also a social and a family consultant.
He told local daily Al-Madinah on Friday that 45 percent of the Saudi children were subjected to various kinds of physical abuse and that 21 percent of them were being regularly beaten.
The academician noted that incidence of family violence was steadily rising and said verbal abuse might be the spark that ignites family violence. “Many people confuse between firmness and violence on numerous occasions. This may result in family breakdown and will not ensure children a proper upbringing,” he cautioned.
Al-Muqbil also said negligence was another face of family violence. He cited a case of a girl who had been staying in a protection home for more than 10 years without anyone asking about her. “This is a clear example of family abuse,” he said.
The academician refuted claims that family violence was hereditary and said it was a kind of temporary punishment. “A female accepting to marry randomly without knowing the man just out of fear of spinsterhood is also a case of family abuse,” he said.
Al-Muqbil believes that the prevailing culture in society is encouraging family violence. “Some wives bear physical abuse by their husband for fear of divorce which is more painful to them than physical abuse and beating,” he said.
He cited lack of proper family planning, unwillingness to settle petty differences, disputes over methods of upbringing and boredom in the house as factors that would ultimately lead to family violence.
“Differences over birth control are also among the causes that may breed family abuse,” he said.
In an earlier report carried by Arab News, the Jeddah police had reported that on average, 145 wives beat their husbands in a month, constituting 20 percent of the annual rates of such incidents.
Wives only go for physical violence when they reach a state of explosion and can no longer control themselves, said Fathiyyah Al-Qurashi, member of the Saudi Human Rights Commission, while responding to the growing number of incidence of husband beating.
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