Saudi Gazette report Kidnap and sexual assault victims spend years overcoming the trauma of such ordeals but in the Kingdom, victims often face social ostracism from a society that shows no mercy to victims or their families. Although society has opened up and becoming more accepting of other cultures, victim-blaming attitudes continue to persist, marginalizing victims or survivors and making their recovery harder. Male perpetrators of such crimes are punished, which can include imprisonment and monetary fines, but once they are released from prison, they can start afresh. Their victims, however, are often imprisoned in their own world of shame and criticism. Al-Riyadh daily reports on the sensitive topic by asking experts for their opinions on victim-blaming attitudes and why they are so prevalent. Dr. Muhammad Al-Qahtani, professor of psychology at Imam Muhammad Bin Saud Islamic University, agreed that the family of an abducted girl goes through a difficult phase and emerges from the traumatic experience with a lot of scars. “Most kidnap victims do not get over the ordeal quickly and continue to have nightmares and negative feelings for a long time. Social support is important for the victims and their families to alleviate their psychological suffering,” Al-Qahtani explained. Rehabilitation Al-Qahtani said girls who survive kidnap or sexual assault need to be committed to a social and psychological rehabilitation program. Her family needs to be part of the program in order to learn how to help their daughter enhance her self-image and change her way of thinking regarding negative experiences. “Negative feelings should be replaced by positive ones and more focus should be given to the present so that a girl forgets the past. Members of society should learn to accept victims of kidnapping and stop criticizing them and their families,” he added. Paying the price Dr. Suhaila Zain Al-Abideen, member of the National Society for Human Rights, criticized society for being prejudiced and biased toward women. “When a girl gets abducted, her family pays a hefty price for it because the siblings of the victim will be viewed negatively by society. Usually, the victim and her sisters never get married because no one shows interest in them and the whole family is ostracized through no fault of their own,” she said. “It is really heart-wrenching to see society blaming and criticizing the victim and her family and keeping quiet about the criminal. As a society, we should provide psychological treatment and support to the victim and her family and try to alleviate their suffering, not add salt to their wounds,” she continued. Dr. Zain Al-Abideen said all abductors and harassers should be punished severely and be named and shamed in the media. “Some judges still blame kidnap victims and accuse them of enticing their abductors and attracting their attention on purpose. In other words, the abductors would not have dared to do such a thing had they not been encouraged to. Our society should believe in women more and should stop blaming them for everything,” she said. Sahar Rajab, a certified family and psychology counselor, agreed that society should stop viewing the victim and her family negatively. “It is important that the psychological state of the victim and her family is taken into consideration before making any judgment about them. We should all remember that it could have been us in the victim's shoes. Nobody knows what the future holds. Before criticizing others, we should look at ourselves first,” she said.
