Abu Dhabi: Creating government shelters for women and children subjected to domestic violence will encourage them to report abuse, a legal expert said.
Addressing a meeting on domestic violence on Sunday, Counsellor Mohammad Rashid Al Danhani, Head of Abu Dhabi Family Prosecution, also suggested that perpetrators of domestic violence whose actions are not criminal, but are still punishable by law, should be rehabilitated using alternatives to imprisonment.
“As long as an individual does not leave permanent deformities or cause death, I believe that placing offenders under programmes that help them better control their actions and avoid repeating the offence, would be a better alternative than putting them in prison. This is because they still need to provide for their families,” he added.
According to Al Danhani, creating centres that cater especially to abused women and children will help secure a future for them, in addition to helping them cope with the emotional consequences of domestic violence.
“Cases of domestic violence are already difficult to prove because they often happen within the premises of a home or an enclosed area where there are few witnesses. Victims may often delay reporting their issues for fear of not having anywhere else to go after they leave the police station. By then, the bruises and marks would have faded, giving us less to work with or the grace period of three months during which matters like this can be reported expires,” he said.
Reasons that drive men to abuse their wives and children transcend cultural differences, Al Dahnani said. “One of these, for example, is when a man’s wife earns more than he does or does not pay attention to her personal life as much as her professional life. This may cause a man to feel emasculated or not needed and resort to beating her in order to prove his dominance over her. However, judges often try to resolve marital issues before proceeding with the case,” he added.
Al Danhani also cautioned parents against leaving physical and emotional scars on their children while “disciplining them”.
“There are several rules for disciplining children that people are often unaware of. Firstly, the child must not be below 15 years old, as this is the age of adolescence according to Sharia. Secondly, the ‘beating’ act itself should not be done using objects, such as belts, and should not be done profusely. If a mark is left on the child’s body, the beating could be considered violence, and is no longer categorised as discipline,” he said.
