Dubai The Dubai Foundation for Women and Children (DFWAC) helped 423 women who were victims of abuse in the past year, according to a top official.
Speaking to XPRESS ahead of the Orange Campaign to be held on Kite Beach between December 8 and 10, Afra Al Basti, director-general of the foundation, said, “In the first half of the year, we provided shelter to over 324 victims of domestic abuse, and according to our in-house research emotional and verbal abuse were the most common.”
She said statistics for 2014-2016 show that there were 391 cases of emotional and verbal abuse, 251 neglect and deprivation, 220 physical abuse, 161 financial abuse and 31 cases of sexual abuse.
“We have noticed an increase in numbers in the last two years, which made us increase our collective investments to raise more awareness and prevent violent crimes against women and girls,” she added.
Global initiative
Asked what the Orange campaign is about, she said, “In the development of a global campaign to end violence against women worldwide, the United Nations Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. With a 16-day campaign globally, people unite and express their solidarity and raise awareness via the Orange event. DFWAC was the first institution to launch the initiative in the Middle East.”
She said, “The campaign is running on various platforms and we are encouraging people to spark a conversation by using the hashtag #SpeakUPae online. We are encouraging UAE residents to come and visit us at the Kite Beach between December 8 to 10.”
Afra said, “Women should not accept abuse and should not keep silent. Any victim of abuse can reach DFWAC 24/7 on our help line 800111, SMS: 5111, Fax: 04 2870088 or email us at help@dfwac.ae.”
Maryam Bin Thaneya, Commun-ications Director at DFWAC, said, “The remedy to preventing gender-based violence lies in the level of awareness and education the society has on the issue. Our campaigns aim to induce positive change by encouraging and empowering victims not to remain silent, and educate people around them on how to pick up signs of abuse and how to intervene.”
Harmeek Singh, chairman of Plan b Group and campaign partner of DFWAC, said, “We all have an equal stake in sharing the responsibility and making sure that we can progress to a healthier living environment for women and girls worldwide.”
