AUK hosts seminar on domestic violence
KUWAIT: A seminar on ‘Attitudes on Violence in Kuwait: Findings from the Abolish 153 Survey’ was held at the American University of Kuwait (AUK) yesterday, attended by academics and students as well as US Ambassador to Kuwait Lawrence Silverman. The lecture was presented by two of the main advocates of the ‘Abolish 153’ campaign Dr Alanoud Al-Sharekh, Director of Ibtikar Strategic Consultancy, and Dr Fatma Al-Salem, Assistant Professor of Mass Communication at Kuwait University.
The campaign to abolish article 153 reaches its peak in the next few days as the result of the survey it conducted will be presented to the parliament. Article 153 of Kuwait’s penal code states that any man who surprises his mother, sister, daughter or wife in an unsavory sexual act (zina) with a man and kills her or him or both will be treated as committing a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum of three years in jail and/or a fine of KD 225.
Abolish 153 believes that violence against women and domestic violence in general are easily committed because the law allegedly protects the perpetrators. It says the penal code effectively gives men regulatory, judicial and executive power over their female kin in blatant disregard of the constitution, international agreements on human and women’s rights and even the sharia.
Abolish 153’s ultimate goal is to create a safe environment where mothers, daughters, sisters and wives are protected from all forms of violence, to raise awareness of these violent practices and the legislation that sanctions them, and ensure the creation of safe houses for women under threat of violence, which are lacking in Kuwait. Abolish 153 supports not only legal changes but those who suffer as a consequence of existing legislation.
Based on statistics released by the justice ministry, an average of 368 acts of violence against women were reported annually in Kuwait between 2000 and 2009. “This is not reflective of reality. Many cases are unreported because of many religious and sociocultural factors. People in Kuwait are still protective of the background, honor and reputation of the family,” said Sharekh, who is the lead advocate of Abolish 153. She added that violence against children is also on the rise since 2000 and keeps growing annually. Sharekh also blamed the media and even commercial advertisements for suggesting violence is okay if the victims fail to follow instructions. “In Ramadan, I saw a flood of advertisements with violent messages - a man threatening his wife for buying the wrong brand of honey and so on. What are we trying to teach our children? In a television interview, a woman was asked: ‘What will you do if your husband beats you?’ The answer was: ‘I will beat him too’,” she said.
Whether economic standing or transgender violence is also included in the report, Sharekh said violence is connected to the socioeconomic background of a person, as more educated people are less likely to fall victim to violence, although she argued they are not spared as well. When it comes to violence against transgender people, Sharekh said Kuwait is still a very conservative society and so violence against them must be high as well, but they have no records or stats on this. Abolish 153 is also working with other NGOs, psychologists and doctors. “We want to support people who are seeking guidance and help from us,” she said.
Salem narrated an incident in which she was confronted by one of her students at Kuwait University, saying the survey that she presented was correct but not reflective of the reality on the ground. “The student was angry and I could sense that she had a heavy load on her heart. I told her to speak up. She said that her friend was badly beaten by her father, but I realized she was referring to herself. She said her friend is being abused since she was five years old, but after one incident, she could not take it anymore, so she went to the police to file a case,” she said.
“But the policewoman convinced her to sign a release report noting that nothing had happened. The policewoman told the girl that she had to recant the complaint because her father was a religious man and that she was tarnishing the name of her father. The policewoman told her that she beats her daughter too and this is just part of disciplining a member of the family. I eventually found out that she was indeed referring to herself,” Salem said.