Violence Against Women in the Middle East

Violence against women and girls is not confined to a specific culture, region or country, or to particular groups of women within a society. The roots of violence against women lie in persistent discrimination against women and girls cause up to 70 per cent of women experience violence in their lifetime, according to country data available. Also is important to point out the fact that women aged 15-44 are more at risk from rape and domestic violence than from cancer, car accidents, war and malaria, according to World Bank data. It is misleading and simplistic to generalize about violence against women in “Islamic countries” or “Islamic societies”. Most of the countries discussed in this committee have sizeable non-Muslim minorities and are not homogeneous in terms of religion or ethnicity. More importantly, “Islamic” and “Muslim” are not synonymous; “Islamization”, the process of creating an Islamic society, is the goal propounded by Islamic fundamentalists; a society may be predominantly Muslim, but not necessarily accept or practice Sharia law but every year, millions of women and girls worldwide suffer violence, be it domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation/cutting, dowry-related killing, trafficking, sexual violence in conflict-related situations, or other manifestations of abuse. Violence against women takes many forms; physical, sexual, psychological and economic. These forms of violence are interrelated and affect women from before birth to old age. Some types of violence, such as trafficking, cross national boundaries. Women and girls who experience violence suffer a range of health problems and their ability to participate in public life is diminished. Violence against women harms families and communities across generations and reinforces other violence prevalent in society. Violence against women also impoverishes women, their families, communities and nations. A manner to establish security to these women there should a rearrangement of their