Brief overview of the situation of violence against women in the Middle East
- 1. Women and girls in the Middle East and North Africa are no longer immune from danger, especially in light of the escalation of violence against them. This violence stems from three basic levels, starting with the family, then society, and then the governing power, whether governments or authorities for a de facto situation. Therefore, it is a compound violence that takes a hierarchical form. Statistics confirm that 37% of Arab women in the Middle East have experienced some form of violence in their lives.
- 2. Women are subjected to violence at the hands of a family member, which sometimes amounts to killing under the pretext of honor, without the existence of deterrent laws for the perpetrators of these crimes, and even with impunity for most of them. During the first half of 2021, 385 were killed by a member of her family for various reasons that represent the marginalization of women is common denominator for all of them.
- 3. It is estimated that 14% of Arab girls in the Middle East are married under the age of 18, for example 5% of Iraqi children marry at the age of 15 and 24% are married at the age of 18.
- 4. Families circumcise their daughters, thinking that it preserves their chastity and purity, while it negatively affects women’s physical, psychological, sexual and reproductive health in the future. Estimates confirm that at least 200 million women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 have been subjected to female genital mutilation FGM worldwide, especially Common in the Middle East.
- 5. Well-established patriarchal community traditions force women to accept the fait accompli resulting from the psychological and physical pain of societal sexual abuse and harassment in the workplace, transportation and public places. Victims do not dare to approach police stations to report harassment for fear of social stigma, especially in tribal communities. Women have to bear the pain without disclosing it. According to UN data, 40-60% of women, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, are subjected to verbal harassment in the streets.
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