VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN SURGES AS SOCIETY SIMMERS

UNCLAS ALGIERS 001254

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SOCI PREL AG
SUBJECT: VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN SURGES AS SOCIETY SIMMERS


1. Even as the constitution was being revised on November 12
to guarantee greater political representation for women,
violence against women in Algeria was on the rise. According
to Farouk Ksentini, the chairman of the government's National
Consultative Commission for the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights (CNCPPDH),the number of reported attacks on
women soared to 4500 in the first half of 2008, a significant
increase over the previous year. Ksentini advocated on
November 24 for more "severe legislation on violence against
women." Ksentini elaborated on November 25 in an interview
with the Algerian Press Service (APS) that the actual number
of cases may be quite higher, since victims often do not
complain. Female advocacy groups are appalled by the
statistics, and we are told that the few call centers and
shelters for battered women that do exist are overwhelmed.


2. Article 266 of the 2001 Penal Code takes a tougher stand
on assault and battery, making them punishable by up to ten
years in prison. In spite of that, Professor Fadela Chitour
of the womens' organization Wassila told us on November 25
that current legislation is insufficient and has not curbed
violence against women. Chitour insisted in a recent paper
that "the absence of laws on the issue favored the continued
submissiveness of women" since women are reluctant to come
forward, largely out of shame. According to Badia Sator,
head of the Rachda womens' association, the absence of laws
is certainly a problem but the bigger problem is that
violence occurs in the private sphere, "where it is
invisible," complicating investigation and prosecution for
lawyers, doctors and police officers.


3. Kheira Messaoudene, a police captain in the national
police (DGSN) office of Child Protection, Delinquency and
Women, recently presented on national television the latest
DGSN statistics concerning violence against women. In the
first half of 2008, 2675 women were victims of physical
assault, 1359 were mistreated, 144 suffered sexual violence,
107 were harassed and 4 were killed. She also explained that
15.8 percent of the assailants were spouses or lovers, 4.21
percent were boyfriends, 6 percent were brothers or fathers,
while 72 percent were male strangers.


4. COMMENT: The DGSN and CNCPPDH statistics only cover
reported cases and therefore probably represent the tip of
the iceberg, especially given the social taboo on women going
public with such charges (the high percentage of cases of
attacks by strangers suggests that the cultural reluctance to
report them is less pronounced). It seems reasonable to
assume that the upward trend is as valid for the silent cases
as it is for those on record. Chitour concluded that a
variety of factors, including the housing crisis,
unemployment and the rise in drug use, have all contributed
to the surge in violence against wives, sisters and
daughters. Chitour also highlighted the effects of another
important Algerian reality, the "dark decade" of violence in
the 1990s. The daily violence and trauma of the 1990s, she
said, completely distorted the concept of violence, "and in a
society where family and educational landmarks disappear,
violence is unfortunately becoming the only channel for
communication."
PEARCE