DUBAI // More victims of domestic abuse are seeking help at a shelter in Dubai.
The Dubai Foundation for Women and Children dealt with 229 cases in the first half of the year compared with 155 in the same period last year, an increase of 50 per cent.
Most of the victims were women aged between 18 and 60, and a third were Emirati. More than 20 victims were men.
The foundation provided shelter in seven cases and dealt with 222 cases externally, or at the victim’s home.
Most abuse occurred at the hands of a husband or former husband. A father was responsible in two cases, and others involved a mother, a relative or an employer.
The victims all suffered emotional, verbal, physical or financial abuse. Three of them were sexually abused.
Severe cases were offered housing, food, clothing and medical care. They also received social, educational and legal services.
“A comprehensive evaluation is made and then the case is accepted as an external or internal case that requires immediate shelter,” said the director general of the foundation, Afra Al Basti.
“A case manager is allocated to follow the procedures and take the history of the abuse suffered, and prepare a support plan to be implemented and the case to be evaluated periodically.”
The plan is developed by counsellors at the foundation to prepare the victims to return to the community without fear. The foundation follows up on the victims for six months after they leave treatment.
“There is no specific period for internal clients to stay at the foundation. Most clients depart after accomplishing their goals in treatment or support plans,” Ms Al Basti said.
Those treated externally receive family consultation and psychotherapy services to promote a feeling of safety.
She attributes the rise in the number of cases to increased awareness in the community.
The foundation “is gaining, every day, the trust of more members of the community especially in its ability to help them in a scientific and professional way, also offering the best services in a context that ensures their privacy, which is clearly reflected in the increasing number of cases that we receive every year,” she said.
Dr Lavina Ahuja, a personal development consultant in Dubai, said domestic violence often occurred when men felt inferior and had a need to be in control.
“Abuse and violence do not occur because of anger,” she said. “In some cases, men feel insecure, very often they feel inferior and the only way he can make himself feel better is by putting his partner down.
“The most common belief is that the partner makes his wife believe she is weak and vulnerable, the partner will be telling her ‘my anger is because of you’, by blaming the woman and saying she deserves it.”
She said that was how the abuse cycle began.
Dr Ahuja said many women were psychologically manipulated before the actual abuse, making them feel they were worthless.
She said women had to acknowledge the impact of the violence, and to believe they were survivors.
“Women who have been through domestic violence and have previously had high self-esteem tend to recover well. But women who have had a sense of worthlessness and have a history of being made not to feel good about themselves, then they need more therapy,” she said.
“They might not recognise the additional damage by the abuser. The wounds are not only physical scars, they are more psychological.”
Those who need help can contact the shelter on its helpline number – 800111.
aalkhoori@thenational.ae