TEENAGERS aged between 16 and 18 make up nearly half of the cases reported to a government-run shelter for abused women and children.
On an average 10 cases a week are referred to the Dar Al Aman shelter for abused women in Tubli, out of which four to five are teenage victims of domestic violence including physical, emotional and financial.
However, shelter head Dr Huda Al Mahmood told the GDN that many of the cases involved family disputes that could have been handled better and de-escalated before the police and shelter got involved.
“Earlier, it used to be women and children who are part of issues between couples and extended families, but now we see more of victims of issues with parents or siblings,” she said.
“We receive almost 10 cases in a week, of which four to five are children aged between 16 and 18.
“They are girls as it is a women’s shelter and most of them have issues with their parents, or brothers and sisters, or extended family members.”
Dr Al Mahmood added that in many cases a simple issue was not handled properly by the family and ended up with police being called in – expressing concern for the younger generation’s capabilities of tackling problems.
She also called on parents and adults in a family to be more understanding when handling concerns raised by teenagers.
“Difference of opinion could lead to children leaving homes or abuses that reach the police – it is mainly the broken families,” she said.
“Reasons for this could be many, including parenting issues and peer pressure.
“We see that children are demanding more independence and they fail to realise or refuse to accept that they need to return to school first to become independent.
“I am worried about this trend in the new generation and we as a society must be wary of the situation.
“Unfortunately, we have no overnight solution to this and Bahrain is not the only country facing this situation.
“However, we have to be watchful and as adults and parents be more careful in the upbringing as it is affecting our culture.”
She added that newly enforced procedures involve specifying the time span a victim will be spending at the shelter.
“This is important as in many cases families don’t seem to bother about the solution and the person remains in the shelter for an indefinite time,” she said.
“There should be a solution, which is reconciliation and rehabilitation.”
Dar Al Aman is a social care institution set up in 2006 and affiliated with the Labour and Social Development Ministry to provide protection for Bahraini and non-Bahraini women and their children who are exposed to violence or abuse either by their families or by the surrounding environment.
The total number of cases registered at the shelter, which currently has 40 bed spaces, varies from period to period.
Disputes
The shelter mainly receives abuse cases but is not limited to only domestic violence, while expatriate victims of labour disputes and human trafficking are referred to the Expatriate Protection Centre in Sehla which is affiliated with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority.
“We used to have 120 beds, but now we only have 40 as we have stopped taking cases of labour disputes and human trafficking victims, which are mainly expatriates,” said Dr Al Mahmood.
“Since 2017 these cases have been referred to the Expatriate Protection Centre in Sehla.
“This segregation is good as the procedures are entirely different in these cases.”
The GDN reported in March 2017 that the Interior Ministry referred 633 cases requiring psychological support for counselling in 2016, which were dealt with at the Family Guidance and Counselling Offices, the Child Protection Centre and Dar Al Aman.
At the time the GDN reported that the cases mainly involved family disputes and occasional domestic violence and financial claims.
The GDN reported in October 2017 that nearly 50,000 people had benefited from the eight such government-run family guidance centres in Bahrain.
raji@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))