4 thousand violence cases against women and children annually
03-09-2015
Ten years has passed since Jordan decided to take decisive actions against violence and hence established the Family Protection Department at the Public Security Directorate in 1998 as a step in its fight against all forms of violence committed against children. Nevertheless, the issue of violence still haunts individuals and institutions working in this field due to the growing numbers of violence cases.
From the physical violence inflicted on women and children alike to the verbal and sexual abuses committed day in day out resulting in the breakup of the family and the children's wasted futures. Regardless of any psychological rehabilitation or assistance offered to them, women and children are continuously faced with the unfortunate images that cannot be wiped from their memories, particularly those involving physical violence and sexual harassments and abuses.
Recognizing this serious issue, HM Queen Rania Al-Abdullah has made considerable contributions in the area of combatting violence against children. Owing to Her majesty's vision in addressing this issue out in the open and handling it as a problem that has been in existence for a long time but was neglected with no action taken to help victims who belong to different society groups, Jordan has taken great steps in this regard setting an Arab example of institutional cooperation and partnerships in combating violence through the establishment of the first shelter for battered women, Dar Al-Wifaq Al-Osary which accommodates women and their children and provides them with care, rehabilitation and required services.
The Social Service Offices run by the Family Protection Department deal with more than 4 thousand family violence cases committed against women and children, 900 cases of which receive services at Dar Al-Wifaq.
Since 2006, NCFA has worked to develop a national framework for family protection against violence as one of the outcomes of the national project for family protection against violence, which serves as national reference document defining roles, responsibilities, mandates and ways of handling violence cases by government and nongovernment institutions.
NCFA Secretary General Fadel AL-Hmoud indicated that the framework was adopted in 2009 by the Cabinet of Ministers and was circulated to relevant institutions for implementation. He also added that, based on HM Queen Rania's directives which stressed the need to review the framework 10 years after its adoption to assess its effectiveness and identify gaps and shortcomings, the Council has commenced the update project in cooperation with the relevant national institutions and in cooperation with United Nations agencies working in Jordan.
In light of the rise in violence cases, Her Majesty has stressed the need to identify gaps in the family protection system and enhance partnerships and coordination among institutions to provide integrated services across all governorates , provide qualified staff at national institutions and raise the capacities of the existing staff, added Al-Hmoud, noting that the Council will also work to finalize the automated system of handling family violence cases following on HM's directives in this regard.
Al-Hmoud pointed out that the National Team for Family Protection against Violence has worked under the umbrella of NCFA since the year 2000 and that it comprises 28 members representing governmental and nongovernmental organizations working in the field of family protection. Work is underway to institutionalize the work of the team by means of a special by-law which will grant the team monitoring and oversight powers, he added.
According to specialists in the field, the recurrence of violence cases in society calls for the review of working mechanisms and the level of coordination among the relevant entities. They also stress the need to reassess the mechanism for reporting cases of abuse and to organize awareness campaigns on this issue. The continued attention paid by Her Majesty to the issue of violence has taken Jordan to the forefront of the Arab counties in this area, thus setting a good example through its violence management mechanisms particularly violence against children, said specialists, noting that the updating of the framework will effectively contribute to the reassessment of the mechanisms and the identification of the shortcomings which are still affecting the system adopted by the different institutions working in the area of family violence.
Al Rai Journalist Suhair Bushnaq
