DOMESTIC ABUSE AND WHAT

ISLAM SAYS

Domestic Abuse remains a major concern for society. It costs the Scottish economy around £2.3 billion a year and its cost in terms of lives is even more tragic. Scottish Government statistics remain almost unbelievable:  

• • • • Reported incidents in Scotland are rising in 2008/09 there were 53,681 cases, a 8% increase from 2007/08.
      • This means there is a reported incident every 10 minutes in Scotland.
      • This number has been steadily increasing for a number of years.
      • 54% of cases reported to the police in 2007/08 involved repeat victimisation.
      • 52% of women murdered in Scotland are killed by a current or former partner (2007).

As terrible as these statistics may be, many incidents of domestic abuse go unreported. Therefore, the actual figures will be a lot higher. This is partially due to many victims not recognising the abuse they face is a criminal offence.

Although the vast majority of domestic abuse is committed by men against women, men can also be victims. In Scotland recorded incidents involving a male victim and female perpetrator has steadily risen from 8% in 2000/1 to just under 14% in 2008/09.

Unfortunately it seems the Muslim community is not immune from this problem. In Scotland Muslims make up almost half of all ethnic minorities and their figures for domestic abuse are similar to the national average. However, the fact that people from an ethnic minority background are less likely to access help due to cultural barriers means that the number of actual cases will be much higher than the figures tell us. Often people will not tell outsiders as they feel that the honour “izzat” of the family will be damaged or that they will bring “sharam” (shame) upon them. It is estimated that it takes women from black and ethnic minorities an average of 10 years before they leave a violent relationship (Patel, 2003). Furthermore, the longer the abuse goes on or as the severity of the abuse continues, the less likely South Asian women are to disclose to others or to leave (Gill, 2004).......READ MORE....

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