Violence and Family Relations
Domestic violence is defined as an aggressive behavioral pattern, where the stronger party enforces its will on the weaker party, including physically, verbally, psychologically, emotionally, sexually and more. It is mostly directed at women, children and the elderly, though men are also victims of this. The survey examined the inter-family relationships in the shadow of control and domestic violence, and the resultant psychological stress within the family.
Among married women, including those previously married, 28.1% spoke about “hardships and problems faced by their husbands at work”. Another 2.9% of women spoke of the involvement of at least one child in illegal problems, or conduct punishable by law.
The survey revealed that about 30% of married women suffered abuse at the hands of their husbands, be it psychological, physical, sexual, social or economic, with the highest percentages in the Northern region. By comparison, the percent of men suffering domestic abuse was much lower, at an average of 12.1%.
Young men and women who were not married also suffered domestic abuse at the hands of relatives, averaging 33.1% and 30.7%, respectively.
The survey also indicated that domestic violence increased for women whose husbands were unemployed or finished only high school or lower. 42.4% of women who were unemployed suffered abuse, dropping to 19.5% for fully-employed women.
The resulting psychological stress levels were deemed low for 47.4% of the families, and high or very high for only 2.7% of them.
Further, the survey addressed issues such as methods women have used to ask for help, how should these women deal with domestic abuse, and possible reasons for men abusing their wives. Interestingly enough, and maybe not surprisingly, the vast majority of men (95.3%) agreed that a remedy for domestic violence was for the women to “treat their husbands better and to avoid behaviors that angered the husbands”.
Click Here to download the survey on Family Violence in both Arabic and English