Al-Jazirah Since the beginning of November, the whole world has been carrying out one activity after another to remind people of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. I won't go far and mention a Western country, but I will mention our neighbor, Kuwait, whice is close to us in everything. Kuwait's universities, and many of its institutions, carried out campaigns throughout November, with male and female students participating, to create a real impression of the efforts to counter violence. Considering that the Kingdom is among those countries where violence against women is widespread, what have we done? The violence includes psychological, law-related, and physical violence. What activities have our universities and schools run to create a real push for the elimination of violence against women in our society? Why are we so sensitive about this subject? Why do we try our utmost to deny violence exists, though our courts are full of lawsuits and newspapers have scores of news reports on the phenomenon? Why don't we have a society for the eradication of violence? These questions, and many others, disturb my mind. All answers to these questions converge on one fact; the shortcoming is due to the nonexistence of a society aimed at eliminating violence against women. If there was a strong society that was supported the way, for example, the National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) is, and those who worked in it were concerned with the violence women suffer, there would have been activities and campaigns not only in November, in which the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women was organized, but throughout the whole year. Some people might say that the Family Protection Committee, which comes under the Ministry of Social Affairs, is responsible for such activities. This committee carries out a good role, but it is insufficient. We are also in need of a civil society, away from the bureaucracy of government institutions. Even the committee, with its ambiguous name, fails to carry out this basic duty. What is important is that the name should specifically mention eradicating violence against women. I don't know why, till this day, we have fears about using these words. Despite the increasing awareness in Saudi society, we are clearly lacking events and activities commensurate with the importance of the international day, and the subject. According to my knowledge there are no such activities, except for the Cultural Forum in Al-Qatif. It is as if we do not even know about this international occasion! This is despite the fact that we signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 2000. We are also concerned with this issue, as we are part of the international community that attaches importance to the matter. But we have some people who believe that holding such activities is recognizing that the problem exists. Perhaps the Kingdom's biggest issue is that many of us do not recognize the existence of this problem. Furthermore, Arab countries, except for Morocco and Jordan, do not have laws that criminalize violence against women. We are all in need of these laws, and matters should not be left to chance and one's mood. Laws are a humanitarian and moral demand that protect humanity, created by Allah Almighty. Without them, a physically stronger person can exploit their strengthen to harm another person. The UN secretary general's campaign this year comes under the motto: "Unite". He said: "Break the silence and don't just stand handcuffed when you see violence being practiced on women and girls." Can we find real societies that strive to address this problem?
