THE growing number of family violence cases, especially the attack on women, shows the increasing awareness among women to protect their rights and their confidence in authorities. Studies show that one out of five women is subject to physical torture. About 53 percent of men who participated in the survey said they would not hesitate to beat women if they find any unacceptable behavior in them. Thirty-two percent participants said they have beaten their wives when they found unbecoming behavior on their part. At the same time, 32 percent women participants in the survey said they would not have any problem if beaten by husbands for misbehavior. Another study pointed out that the rate of women who do not resist when beaten by husbands and other male relatives reached 94 percent. The issue of family violence is interconnected and complicated and women are happy with the two decisions taken by the government as they believe that these decisions would contribute to ending injustice against women in our society and reduce their suffering. The first such decision is the appointment of a woman as vice president of the General Authority for Sports — Princess Rima Bint Bandar. We expect that Prince Rima would use her position to strengthen physical power of women by allowing them to participate in sports and learn self-defense sports such as karate and judo. Such sports would empower women and help them defend themselves. At present they have become hostages of their attackers in the absence of laws that protect women's rights and safeguard them from the hegemony of their male guardians. This is significant when some religious clerics among us support male hegemony and torture. A member of the Council of Senior Islamic Scholars in the Kingdom recently gave a reply when asked whether women are allowed to defend themselves if she is beaten or tortured by her husband, saying she is not allowed to do so because it would be considered as a bad manner. I wonder if defending self is a bad behavior then is it good to die after being attacked by a brutal person? I would like to ask this cleric whether he would allow his daughter to be tortured by her husband and lead a subservient life under his mercy. Such biased and unbalanced fatwas or religious rulings are unacceptable in the changing scenario of the society. We know that the government is trying its best to improve the cultural standard of our society, establishing equality and justice on all citizens including women. The second important development is the formation of a council for family affairs. We look forward that the council would have its positive impact on security, economic, social and cultural levels and improving family relations. At present our families face various problems such as divorce, marriage of minors and adhl cases (male guardians preventing women from getting married). We hope the council would work to change the stereotyped image of Saudi women in the society and consider them as a complete human being with rights and responsibilities. Our women should not be treated as minors. We hope that a woman would be appointed to lead the council as we have a large number of highly capable and qualified women leaders to take up such big responsibilities. I believe that a nation would not fail if a woman takes care of their affairs.
