Supreme Council for Family Affairs organized a celebration of the International Day for Eliminating Violence against Women coinciding annually on November 25th

The celebration activities started yesterday, Sunday, November 25th at the Millennium Hotel with a seminar on the findings of the study on violence against women in the Qatari society by Dr Kulthum Al-Ghanim

On this occasion, HE Mr. Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Khalifa, SCFA Secretary-General delivered an address in which he conveyed the greetings of HH Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, SCFA President who has prioritized the family with all her great care and has given women and their issues her undivided attention and care

Mr. Al-Khalifa said that SCFA will not hesitate to tackle any topic or launch any initiative or legislation that contributes to protecting the family and its members and maintaining their rights and dignity. He added saying: "From this stand, we prioritize the question of violence against women and family violence because this question of violence violates human rights preached by our Islamic religion fourteen centuries ago, and which rights that the international community has agreed about, approved and adopted as a constitution because violence is an alarming phenomenon that threatens the family structure and destroys family ties that make up the community."

Mr. Al-Khalifa further said: "Talking about violence against women or family violence that every family member, whether a male or a female, including elderly people or persons with disability, is prone to, is a topic we should not be ashamed to bring up once we have determined to face it, neither is it a matter that we can conceal at a time of cultural and information openness and in the light of the communications revolution which has rendered our entire globe into a small village. On the contrary, we should tackle this question straight-forwardly, objectively and clearly and work at defining it properly and study its root causes and reveal its deviation from what our true religion has preached about the family structure on basis of love, compassion and respect of human dignity of men and women together."

Mr. Al-Khalifa confirmed SCFA's care to monitor social phenomena and apply scientific methodology to study them in order to diagnose their real causes and provide the solutions appropriate to them. Mr. Al-Khalifa said: "We are pleased to announce today the findings of the first study of its kind on violence against women in the Qatari community, and it is a survey study on female students of the University of Qatar, and we look forward that this study would contribute to removing the ambiguity from this topic and encouraging researchers and scholars of the academic centers to conduct more studies on this topic and other topic and the issues that concern the family in Qatar."

Mr. Al-Khalifa added saying: "Within SCFA's commitment to work toward establishing an integral legal system responding to the nature of familial relationships, we have been keen on discussing the importance of the existence of special legislations to combat family violence in a round-table to be held tomorrow where concerned people will meet."

He stated: "SCFA cares to legislate the disciplines of social relations on sound basis, we, therefore, supported the issuance of the Family Law in 2006, and we worked at preparing a law project about establishing family courts of law, and we are going ahead with reviewing current legislations and proposing methods of amending some of their articles to provide the highest level of protection to the society members."

In conclusion of his address, Mr. Al-Khalifa confirmed: "HH Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al-Missned, SCFA President has cared to providing supportive services to the family by establishing the Qatari Foundation for Protecting Children and Women, Family Consultations Center and other institutions, and SCFA cares to work with these institutions to improve the level of the services given by them and promote their being reached by every person in need of them on the soil of the State of Qatar."

Dr Kulthum Al-Ghanim presented the findings of her survey study conducted on female students of the University of Qatar and in which study Dr Al-Ghanim gave a social analysis of the phenomenon of violence against women in Qatar. Official data permitted to be revealed and related to the cases received by the Qatari Foundation for Protecting Children and Women indicated the existence of cases of violence against women that were 55 cases, 34 against Qatari women and 21 against non-Qatari women in 2005. The high number among Qatari women is noticeable, besides its being neither accurate nor detailed.

Dr Al-Ghanim added that cases of violence that appeared in the Interior Ministry statistics mentioned 65 cases of family violence that were addressed in the Crime and Offences Court and Social Status Office, 32 cases of which ranging between assault and fight that were put before the Offences Court, and 5 cases were put before the Crime Court, 3 pre-meditated murders, 2 assaults, besides 37 cases of family violence filed to the Social Status Office

Dr Al-Ghanim tackled the Qatari family's cultural features and the differences that should be taken into consideration first when analyzing the Arab family structure which has a direct impact on women's social status as women are affected by a number of factors which contribute to depriving them of social rights and increasing their exposure to social violence, and among these factors are consecutive child-birth, early marriage, preference of males to females within the family. Negative effects have resulted from these values and customs, such as deprivation of women to run their monies, male aggressiveness in deciding matters of marriage and divorce, interference in defining education level of girls and the type of education they receive, and decisions concerning employment and occupying positions of leadership and other matters which are affected by the consent and approval of husbands and the family

Dr Al-Ghanim gave a briefing of her study by highlighting a number of themes which included general education which plays a key role in forming the image of submissive women, besides the absence of awareness among many women about the existence of bodies that protect them, as well as the Qatari Penal Law does not contain specification or definition or punishments to penalize offenders

Dr Al-Ghanim came out with recommendations among which were: addressing decision-makers, public opinion leaders, civil society institutions and academic centers and institutions concerned with women protection against violence and the international community to advocate, promote and establish a safe life devoid of violence against women, and to lay out a national strategy to combat violence

The Seminar concluded with remarks and discussions coming from the floor about the study and its findings. A host of distinguished local personages participated in the Seminar, among whom were Ms Ferida Al-Obeidly, Director -General of Qatari Foundation for Protecting Children and Women, Dr Hassan Al-Sayed, Faculty of Law Dean in the University of Qatar and a number of the Qatari public, besides Gulf personages who included HE Dr Abdul-Latif Ahmed Al-Sheikh Mohammed Saleh, Bahraini Legislative Council Member, Ms Sereen bint Ali Mustafa, Director-General of Children and Women's Affairs in the Social Development Ministry in Oman, Colonel Khalid Said Al-Naqbi, Head of Social Support Department in Abu Dhabi, Dr Abdul-Khaliq Al-Abdul-Hay, Human Rights National Committee Member in Saudi Arabia, Advocate Selma Nasser Al-Ajmi of Kuwait. The Seminar was moderated by Ms Noor Al;-Maliky, Woman Department Managing-Director in SCFA

This Seminar is part of SCFA's continuous endeavors to combat all kinds of violence against women within the framework of SCFA's efforts exerted currently through adopting a national plan for women that falls within the Family General Strategy which aims at improving and developing women's situation by empowering them to play their role in the society's progress and development, and protection against the dangers of the violence phenomenon.