UAE symposium to discuss violence against women

A Dubai Police official plans to present a paper about which behaviours and practices should be listed in official surveys and studies on violence against women.

DUBAI // A symposium on violence against women and how to gather data on it will be held next week.

The three-day event, organised by the National Statistics Centre in Abu Dhabi, will begin on Tuesday.

Dr Mohammed Abdullah, the head of Dubai Police’s decision-making support centre, plans to present a paper on what should be listed in official surveys and studies on violence against women.

Dr Abdullah will discuss issues including physical or verbal sexual harassment, “Sharia-sanctioned beating”, forced marriage, early marriage, women’s violence against women, forced virginity tests and men threatening to put women’s intimate affairs online.

Deciding what should be included in surveys and studies will allow the UAE to compare its results to other societies, his paper will say.

There are no federal statistics on violence against women, although various police departments collect information on cases reported.

The Dubai Foundation for Women and Children recently completed a nationwide survey of about 3,000 schoolchildren on violence against children and domestic violence. The results are expected by the end of the year.

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