Published: 15 May 2020
Last updated: 4 March 2024
IN LATE MARCH, Eman al-Khatib, a Jordanian single woman of 36, posted a video clip sharing her tragic story of abuse by her mother and brothers. Despite threats from her family, she decided to run away from home with her son, after she feared for her life. The video clip, which went viral, revealed the severe consequences of the “corona era” on victims of domestic abuse.
For many women around the world, the lockdown is not life saving, but quite the opposite. They are imprisoned with their abuser, without being able to enjoy shreds of freedom, when he is away. According to Asma Shiri Laabidi, Tunisian minister of women, family, child and elderly affairs, there had been fivefold rise in the number of domestic abuse cases reported in recent period, compares with the same period last year. More than 40 cases involving abused women were recorded between March 23-29, compared to seven during the same week in 2019.
Lebanon has also seen an increase in domestic violence since the beginning of the lockdown.
“We observed a 20% increase in calls to our hotline and in the number of women seeking safe sheltering in March. Calls to an ISF (Internal Security Forces) domestic abuse hotline have also doubled – from 44 in March 2019 to 88 in March of this year,” according to Gina Anani, Director of ABAAD, a resource centre for gender equality in Lebanon.
“However, we believe that the data we have does not reflect the real situation. Many women avoid reporting physical abuse, except in cases of life threats, because they think public health safety is top priority these days.
We observed a 20% increase in calls to our hotline and in the number of women seeking safe sheltering in March.
Recently, ABAAD has launched a solidarity campaign titled #LockdownNotLockup, that aims to raise the awareness for their helpline number. As part of the campaign, people stood on April 16 on their balconies throughout Lebanon and hung sheets with the helpline number, to encourage women to use this service.
The spike in reported domestic abuse under the pandemic campaign intensified an already alarming incidence of cases. Domestic violence refers to various types of abuse: Physical, psychological, sexual, economic and emotional. In many instances it is perceived as a family matter that needs to be dealt behind closed doors. It is estimated that 37% of Arab women have experienced violence, although the percentage might be higher, because the victims do not report the abuse.
Quite often the victims have no protection, either because they are afraid to seek for help, or because the authorities cannot provide them with good solutions. Those who choose to speak up, usually turn to friends and family.
Until recent years, domestic violence in Arab states used to be a taboo. It was only after cases of severe violence against women were published, that the code of silence was broken. In 2004, Rania al-Baz, a famous Saudi television host, was brutally beaten by her husband. He slammed her face against the floor, until he thought she was dead.
She suffered 13 fractures, and it took 12 operations to restore her beauty. While she was in hospital fighting for her life, her father took photos of her swollen face. After she recovered, she decided to publish them, in order to draw attention to the plight of abused women in Saudi Arabia.
Due to brave women like Rania, along with effective NGO campaigns that put pressure on governments to address this sensitive issue, six Arab states - Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Bahrain, Tunisia, and Morocco - have since enacted precedent laws that define domestic violence as a criminal act. This is an important milestone, but there is still a long and painful way for this law to be effectively implemented by the victims of violence, especially in difficult times like this.
The culture of reporting is still mandated by law, and even when there is awareness, women don’t turn to the authorities, because they don’t think that significant action against the abuser will be taken.
[gallery columns="1" size="large" ids="35488"]
Domestic violence is sometimes perceived as part of a culture, as in the case of “honour killing”. On August 21 ,2019, Israa Ghrayeb, a Palestinian woman aged 21 who lived in Beit Sahour, died following a beating by her brother. Her family released a statement saying she jumped off a second-storey balcony, breaking her spine and suffering cuts to her face.
Israa was a make-up artist, with many followers on Instagram. A few weeks before she was murdered, she posted a photo to Instagram, with a man who had proposed to her. This photo allegedly led to her murder, because her action was perceived by her family members as dishonourable to the family.
The murder sparked harsh criticism in the Arab world over the concept of “honour killing”. Men and women in the Palestinian territories took to the streets and demanded investigation into her death. Also in the social media, people have strongly condemned the phenomenon through hashtags such as #weareallisra.
In the case of Israa, as in other cases published, social media had a crucial role in raising awareness of the urgent need to protect the victims of domestic violence. However, without a fundamental change in the perception that consider domestic violence as a private issue rather than public, the victims will remain unprotected.
During the “corona era”, states are focused on preserving the health of their citizens, but by no means can this be used as a reason to neglect addressing the phenomena of domestic violence.
READ MORE
‘Cries for help are going to hit us like a tsunami’: domestic abuse – the other coronavirus disease (Haaretz)
Jewish or Arab, in Israel or in Gaza, there has been a huge uptick in the number of reported incidents of violence against women during the lockdown – and the true figure is likely to be much worse
Lockdowns around the world bring rise in domestic violence (Guardian)
The coronavirus crisis is a ‘pressure cooker’ for domestic violence (972)
Directives to shelter at home may be flattening one curve, but they have led to a spike in domestic and gender-based violence, and the Israeli government is yet to offer timely solutions.
Photo: Banners hang from the balconies of a building in Beirut, during a campaign dubbed #LockdownNotLockup, launched by the local association ABAAD, April 16 (AFP)
