Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07JEDDAH498
2007-11-30 18:14:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Jeddah
Cable title:  

VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN THE HEJAZ:

Tags:  PGOV PHUM SOCI KWMN SA 
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VZCZCXYZ0014
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJI #0498/01 3341814
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 301814Z NOV 07
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0410
INFO RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 7645
C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000498 

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KWMN SA
SUBJECT: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN THE HEJAZ:
DISCONCERTINGLY COMMON

Classified By: Consul General Tatiana C. Gfoeller for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L JEDDAH 000498

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PLEASE PASS TO DHAHRAN, DEPARTMENT FOR NEA/ARP AND DRL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/30/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI KWMN SA
SUBJECT: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN THE HEJAZ:
DISCONCERTINGLY COMMON

Classified By: Consul General Tatiana C. Gfoeller for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d).


1. (C) BEGIN SUMMARY AND COMMENT: While the number of
reported domestic abuse cases varies depending on the source,
Hejazi (inhabitants of the Western Province) experts focused
on addressing violence against women agree that the number of
cases in the Western Province is rising. The President of
the Ministry of Social Affairs Social Protection Committee,
Saeed al Ghamdy, said that in the last two years there have
been 325 reported cases of violence against women in the
"greater Mecca region." However, experts such as Aljawhara
al Angari, Vice President of the National Society for Human
Rights (NSHR) in the Mecca region, and Dr. Enaam Raboei,
President of the Jeddah-based Charity Society for Family
Protection, believe that such statistics reflect just "the
tip of the iceberg." While the Mecca government noted last
September an increased number of cases, its efforts to
address the issue - most recently to establish an information
center in Jeddah - have proven empty.


2. (C) Despite a lack of follow through on the part of the
Mecca government, some organizations - specifically the NSHR
and the Human Rights First Society (HRF) - have tried in the
past two years to spread awareness among and to improve the
support services available to abused women in the Hejaz.
Some individuals, such as the General Manager of the Women's
Ministry of Social Affairs Division in Mecca, Nora al Sheikh,
are using the Media to speak out against domestic violence.
Others, including Ministry of Health medical professional
Fatmah Ali Faqeeh, are attempting to foster discussion of the
topic among young women. Unfortunately, services, most
notably the Jeddah Dar al Himaya shelter, remain plagued by
issues such as widespread complacency among law enforcement
officials. Overall, Hejazi activists focused on this issue
remain divided as to whether the situation has in fact
improved. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT.

--------------
THE MEDIA: A MEANS FOR SPREADING AWARENESS

--------------


3. (C) Many activist Jeddawis that work to confront violence
against women argue that the Media has been a popular means
to spread awareness regarding the frequency and nature of
such abuse. Aljawhara al Angari of the NSHR argues that the
Media's continued focus on domestic abuse cases has helped to
illustrate the severity of the violence. She noted the case
of Rania al Baz, a close friend of hers and a well-known TV
presenter, who in 2004 published photos of her injuries
resulting from a near-fatal beating by her husband. She
believes, as a result, that women are more comfortable
seeking assistance from centers such as the NSHR.


4. (C) Some Hejazi government officials have also used the
Media to denounce, in particular, the Saudi male role in
violence against women. In the past year, the General
Manager of the Women's Social Affairs Division in Mecca, Nora
al Sheikh, made one of the more brazen remarks by a
government official against domestic violence, stating: "A
young brother that is used to beating up his sister in front
of his parents, who do not stop him, will probably grow up to
be a terrorist...." (NOTE: Al Sheikh holds the highest
ministerial rank obtainable by women. END NOTE.) However,
during a recent discussion with several Jeddawi women, many
shared the belief that there is no force behind such remarks.
For example, the Mecca government stated last month that it
would establish an information center in Jeddah, but to date,
local authorities have not taken further action.

--------------
DISCUSSION OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN:
PUSHING THE ENVELOPE
--------------


5. (C) Regarding facilitation of discussion in the villages
and in the classroom, Jeddawi experts disagree on its
effectiveness. In a conversation with Ibrahim al Mugaiteeb,
President of the HRF, he stated that "Within the past 18
months, efforts to increase awareness have gained ground and
activists are pushing things in the legal arena." (NOTE: In
discussions he made a point of criticizing the NSHR, stating
that it is not an NGO." END NOTE.) He also argued: "Abuse
occurs in large part because women do not have their own
identity." However, he complained that the SAG had rejected
his request to license the HRF; and therefore, he was having
difficulty exposing the extent to which violence against
women permeates society.


6. (C) In contrast, a Ministry of Health official, Fatmah Ali

Faqeeh (also Coordinator of the Infection Control Program in
Jeddah and writer at Al Watan newspaper focusing on domestic
violence),stated that she did not think that women felt
comfortable confronting the problem of domestic violence
because most believe that a husband has the right to hit his
wife. She mentioned that during a visit to an unnamed
private school to discuss public health, she tried to raise
the issue of physical violence against women. However, the
principal intervened and asked her to discontinue her lecture
as it would rouse tension between the school and the local
government. In addition, in response to a recent request to
assist in organizing an informal gathering on violence
against women, the moderator of choice, Dr. Raboei, declined,
stating: "I'm sorry to tell you that I can't arrange a 25
November table discussion for political reasons, maybe later."

--------------
HEJAZI AUTHORITIES COMPLACENT
TOWARD COMPLAINTS OF ABUSE
--------------


7. (C) A common sentiment among Jeddawis regarding the
responsiveness of Hejazi authorities to domestic violence is
that it is inconsistent at best and complacent at worst.
Aljawhara al Angari of the NHRS believes most law enforcement
officials ignore threats and cases of violence against women.
She reported that if a woman goes to a police station to
file a complaint, the officer either ignores her or sends her
back to her family. Likewise, Fatmah Ali Faqeeh stated that
if a woman goes to a police station to file a report, the
officer will likely turn her away, as a husband's abuse of
his wife, she argued, is an accepted part of Saudi culture.


8. (C) Although hospitals are now required to report
suspicious injuries to authorities; it is unclear how often
this occurs. Dr. Raboei, also a surgeon at the King Fahad
Armed Forces Hospital, stated without hesitation that medical
professionals do not want to report such cases out of fear of
reprisal from the family. She recalled a case in which the
father of an abused patient told one of the hospital
psychiatrists that he would kill Dr. Reboei if she did not
abandon her claims that his daughter had been abused. Fatmah
Ali Faqeeh and a few maternity ward nurses with whom she
worked also insisted that intimidation from male family
members of abuse victims remained an obstacle to reporting
abuse for female medical professionals in particular.

--------------
SUPPORT FOR BATTERED WOMEN:
IN DIRE NEED OF IMPROVEMENT
--------------


9. (C) Last October, the Institute of General Management in
Mecca published a study stating that there is a large
shortage of available social workers and specialists to
assist battered women. Many Hejazi activists argued that the
shelters do not afford women the proper moral support or
psychological treatment necessary for coping. Fatmah Ali
Faqeeh admitted that such shelters "were like prisons."
Unfortunately, most women, the study claimed, are not aware
of their rights. Other entities, such as the
quasi-Government NHRS, provide legal services to female
victims of domestic violence. The study proposed
establishing legal departments inside various shelters to
assist women. A majority of Hejazi experts agree on the need
for substantial legal assistance as rules on submitting
evidence and fear of reprisal remain obstacles to victims'
ability to seek redress in the Courts.


10. (C) Hejazi activists also agree that support services -
in particular shelters - are in need of major improvement.
In the Hejaz there exists one shelter specifically for female
victims of domestic abuse: Dar al Himaya. According to Saeed
al Ghamdy, President of the Ministry of Social Affairs Social
Protection Committee, over the past year the shelter received
106 women: 90 returned home and 16 remained. However, in
conversations with specialists such as Dr. Raboei, many
victims complained that male relatives can "bully" shelter
employees into returning women to their families. Another
problem, noted NSHR official Aljawhara al Angari, is that the
Mecca government considers the shelter a place for short-term
stay (i.e. 1-3 days) as familial tensions abate, rather than
a means to facilitate preventing further abuse.
GFOELLER