Bahrain is to set up a special shelter for battered women as part of its efforts to suppress violence against them, the Minister of Interior was quoted yesterday as saying.
The shelter, which will be run by female officers, will be used to house battered women and their children and provide health services, psychiatric counselling and legal assistance, Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa said in a letter to the Shura Council. He was responding to a question by one of the members on the ministry's efforts to combat violence and discrimination against women.
"The centre will also provide protection to the women and the children until a permanent settlement is reached," the minister said, adding battered women would be admitted to the shelter by a court order or by an order from the minister or the General Prosecution.
Shaikh Rashid said the ministry had reported 649 cases of physical violence against women in 2004, in addition to 695 cases of verbal violence. The figures reported showed that last year's numbers are similar to those reported over the past four years. The figures include 17 rape cases and seven of attempted rape. "The ministry's agencies take very seriously any report of abuse against women from the first moment a complaint is received," he said.
A study released recently by leading local psychologist Dr Banna Buzaboun claimed that 30 per cent of Bahraini women were "subjected to various forms of violence by their spouses in the presence of their children, and in many cases with the knowledge of members of the family".
The study indicated that "the percentage of battered wives in Bahrain is equal to that of their counterparts in other parts of the world".
According to the study, "30 per cent of women have been subjected to violence more than once, a percentage equal to that of their counterparts in Britain, and is close to that in Canada (29) and Nicaragua (28)".
It describes the violence as "verbal, physical, psychological and moral".
The study showed that 14 per cent of battered wives had been subject to "insults and abuse", 10 per cent to "light beating", 8 per cent had been deprived of essentials, 8.4 per cent had had their freedom suppressed and were threatened with beating, and 3.4 per cent had been expelled from the home.
Gulf News
