The number of domestic abuse cases against women and children continues to rise in Qatar, as the country works to draft a new law to define and criminalize the act.

In the past nine months, the Qatar Foundation for Protection of Women and Children (QFPWC) has made note of some 995 cases of abuse – an average of nearly four incidents a day, according to local media reports.

The 521 women and 474 children received various forms of support from the foundation, including social, medical, legal and financial help.

The Peninsula reports:

Addressing a two-day workshop here on children’s rights, QFPWC director Fareeda Al  Obaidli, who disclosed the data, said many of the incidents of violence against children happens due to the ignorance of parents.

“They don’t know the difference between caring and punishment,” said Al Obaidli.

She said an increasing number of lawyers, doctors and students of schools and universities in the country are now volunteering to defend the rights of children and women.

Qatar’s National Development Strategy, which recorded a jump in domestic violence cases across the country, has called for the establishment of a law by 2016.

Students at Qatar University’s Law College and foreign consultants were planning to come up with the first “culturally appropriate” draft of the law this summer.

Thoughts?

Credit: Photo by Herald Post