Prince Mesh'al Bin Majed Bin Abdul Aziz, Governor of Jeddah, on Sunday sponsored the awareness ceremony of the Family Protection Society at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Ismail Badaoud Hall. The ceremony aimed to educate the public on the newly created society in the Kingdom and its activities. The society's goal is to spread awareness on domestic violence and protect victimized families. Saleh Al-Turki, JCCI's president and a member of the society's board, said in a speech that domestic violence does exist in Saudi Arabia, and role of the society, which was established with the efforts of many young Saudis, is to fight it. Turki added that domestic violence in the Kingdom was a major source of concern for Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, the Minister of Interior. “This society is going to play a major role to solve many problems that families are facing,” Turki said. Dr. Awadh Al-Raddadi, Deputy Minister of Social Affairs, stated that there have been many victims of domestic violence under the protection of the ministry over the years, but the ministry preferred not to bring their cases out into the public eye so as not to encourage even more violence. However, he continued, after growing numbers of violence cases, the ministry established a guidance unit and opened a 800-number hotline toll free to help victims seek protection from offending relatives. “Now, there are 17 committees in various regions around the Kingdom to work on such cases,” said Raddadi. “That said, violence cases are very few relative to the Kingdom's population.” Dr. An'am Al-Robo'ie, chairwoman of the society's board, explained how the idea of the society came about and how it works. “Members of the society are mostly women, because most of the time they are the victims of domestic violence, along with children and the elderly,” said Robo'ie. “(The society) is a private charity meant to protect women and children from violence within the family and within its area, no matter whether the victim is a Saudi, an expatriate or a visitor,” she said. “All are equal.” According to the society's website, www.7imayah.org, some 45 percent of Saudi children are subjected to mistreatment by their families. She added that the society is cooperating with authorities concerned with family and domestic violence, official and private committees. At the end of the ceremony, a beautiful little girl from Al-Hamra private schools recited a poem about family violence to applauding audiences. __
