Legislation 'needed to help victims'

Abu Dhabi: Dr Souad Al Marzouqi, assistant professor of psychology at UAE University, told Gulf News that domestic violence is a reality in UAE society and needs to be addressed as it has huge psychological implications.

"There are different forms of domestic violence carried out against children, women and in some cases even men in our society and legislation should be issued to help these victims," Dr Souad said.

"The real challenge with domestic violence is that many victims dare not complain to the concerned authorities and therefore it is really difficult to tell how many are actually subjected to domestic violence."

Dr Souad called for the airing of documentaries during children's programmes to educate children and their families on violence and how to stop it.

However, Dr Ahmad Al Kubaisi, an Islamic scholar, said that domestic violence in the UAE is only confined to limited cases.

"Domestic violence in our society is not a phenomenon but no society is perfect and violence against children or women is exceptional and confined to a few cases as it is against Islamic traditions and customs," he said.