Wife abuse in the palestinian authority

Abstract

Over the past three decades, wife abuse and other forms of domestic violence have received extensive public and academic attention in many countries. In Palestinian society, however, public interest in the problem has only been aroused in recent years. 7 his paper deals with the problem of wife abuse in Palestinian society, with emphasis on three aspects: the incidence of the problem, the approach and attitudes toward the problem, and general comments on current attempts to cope with the problem. The concluding section provides general recommendations for dealing with wife abuse and other forms of domestic violence in Palestinian society, as well as possible directions for future research.

Cultural Beliefs and Service Utilization by Battered Arab Immigrant Women

“…The study's results support the previous findings and arguments of Abraham, Abraham, and Aswad (1983); Aswad and Gray (1996); Bograd (1988); Davis (1984); Davis and Carlson (1981); Dutton, Orloff, and Hass (2000); Gondolf (1985); Haj-Yahia (1998a, 1998b, 2000a, 2000b; Hilbert and Hilbert (1984); Kulwicki (1996a); Kulwicki and Miller (1999);and Walker (1984).…”

Gendered Empowerment and HIV Prevention: Policy and Programmatic Pathways to Success in the MENA Region

“…In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 48% of currently partnered women experienced assault by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. 60 The Egyptian Demographic and Health Survey provides the only nationally representative data on IPV from an Arab country in this region. The survey indicates that around 1 of 3 (34%) ever-married women aged 15–49 has been beaten by their spouse; 86% of ever-married women believes that husbands are sometimes justified in beating their wives, with the highest specified reason (70%) being the refusal of sexual intercourse.…”

Attitudes of Palestinian Physicians Toward Wife Abuse

“…Substantial percentages of the Palestinian physicians are aware of different types of wife abuse, and their definitions of acts of wife abuse are highly consistent with definitions presented in the professional literature (e.g., Haj-Yahia, 2000b, 2000cStraus et al, 1996). At the same time, the findings revealed a relatively strong tendency to recognize severe and ongoing acts of violence as wife abuse, whereas they were less inclined to recognize episodic acts of mild or moderate violence as such.…”

“…Accordingly, it was found that the physicians’ definitions of wife abuse included acts that are considered damaging to her motherthood role as well as her responisibility to maintain the reputation and honor of her family. Finally, the issue of marital sex is considered highly personal and must remain confidential at all costs, and sexual fulfillment and pleasure in marriage must derive from direct sexual relations between partners and not from “instrumental” relations, such as pornographic films (Al-Khayyat, 1990; Haj-Yahia, 2000b, 2000c, 2002). Consequently, it was found that physicians’ definitions of wife abuse were a reflection of these values, where they included acts that are related to the nature of undesirable sexual relations as well as to the approach of the husband toward such relations.…”