It is imperative to double the efforts to combat violence against women in the Arab region, said UN-ESCWA Executive Secretary Bader Omar AlDafa at a conference in Doha on 19-20 November.

Addressing the meeting on “The Effect of Violence on Women and Family” that was organized by the Doha International Institute on Family Studies and Development, Al Dafa said that this conference represents a step towards breaking the silence that has shrouded this issue for years. He went on to say that violence against women is an old phenomenon spread throughout the world. AlDafa said that a report issued by the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in March 2008 revealed that violence affects one out of three women at least. Violence is the main reason for death and disability among women between the age of 15 and 44, even before cancer, malaria, wars and car accidents.

According to the Executive Secretary, the issue of violence against women is no longer considered to be a taboo in most of the Arab countries, but it has become an open subject to discuss and condemn at the level of governments and societies. “The four main aspects of violence in the Arab countries are: family violence, female circumcision honor crimes and violence amidst occupation and armed conflicts,” AlDafa was quoted as saying.

The head of the regional commission listed some of the challenges preventing putting an end to this phenomenon, including failure to abide by laws that call for punishing those who commit violence against women, delay in issuing sentences against the perpetrators and the scarcity of statistics and studies that demonstrate the scope of women subject to violence, specifically family violence. AlDafa suggested some solutions, such as strengthening the political will and commitment at higher levels to make the violence against women a priority at the local, national, regional and international level, empowering women in the various social groups and deepening women’s awareness of laws and her rights.

AlDafa also tackled UN-ESCWA’s role in empowering women. He said that one of the regional commission’s programs focuses on women-related issues, including empowering women and combating violence against them.