The growing incidence of marital violence is also attributed to an increase in awareness among Omani women, who are now speaking out more openly against it, with a growing number of them holding firm that such violence must not be tolerated.
Marital violence is on the rise in the Sultanate, experts have revealed.
The growing incidence of marital violence is also attributed to an increase in awareness among Omani women, who are now speaking out more openly against it, with a growing number of them holding firm that such violence must not be tolerated.
Dr. Kahwla Al Wahabi, a specialist at the Department of Behavioural Medicine at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH), said, “Wives should immediately report any case of marital violence to the police or courts.”
Al Wahabi, who receives nearly five cases related to marital violence per month, said marital violence can lead to trauma and psychological problems, such as anxiety, depression and even suicidal tendencies among the victims.
One of the reasons women avoid reporting abusive partners to the authorities, is they fear for their children’s future. They also get bogged down by the thought that society tends to blame women for any marital conflict, according to the latest study by Al Wahabi on “Violence against married women in Oman.”
“Most women tolerate their spouse’s attitude thinking time will solve their issues,” she explained.
The study also revealed that most acts of violence were reported during the first few years or months of marriage, and most of abuse was in the form of repeated acts of violence.
Oman is a country, where the population of males and females are almost on parity, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Maisa, a general prosecutor, echoed Al Wahabi’s view, saying many women lacked knowledge about their legal rights, making them vulnerable.
According to the study, which involved 140 Omani women, who have victims of violence, 90 of them (60 per cent) were in a traditional arranged marriage.
“While violence comes in different forms,” said Al Wahabi, “verbal violence tops the chart in Oman, followed by physical, financial and sexual violence, which is increasing dramatically among married Omani couples.”
She said the types of physical violence reported to her department involve hitting the body, slapping, pulling hair and punching. Some men also bit their wives and used sharp tools to hit them.
The most common form of verbal violence includes insults, shaming family members, comparison with other women, and making fun of the victim’s appearance. What’s more, women with lower levels of education were found more likely to file complaints of marital violence in the courts.
Al Wahabi stressed the need to have a specialised court in Oman that only tackles martial violence.
While divorce seems to be the obvious solution, many men and women in Oman prefer having affairs rather than divorce, which is considered a stigma, as old as time, and which forces women to neglect the issue of gender-based violence which, according to the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women, is “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.”
Al Wahabi said cheating among married couples is on the rise mainly due to early age marriages.
Since 2013, female victims of violence and discrimination in Oman were being housed in a centre provided by the Ministry of Social Development to keep them safe. Around 54 females joined the centre in 2015, according to a ministry official.
However, such cases are not restricted to Oman as the global prevalence figures indicate that about 1 in 3 (35 per cent) of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.
Most of this violence is “intimate partner violence.” Worldwide, almost one third (30 per cent) of women, who have been in a relationship, report that they have experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner, according to the World Health Organisation.
Recently, the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) held a workshop entitled, “Violence against women in the Omani society,” which highlighted the health, legal and social aspects of the problem.
Source: TimesOfOman