Social Change and Women’s Violence in Domestic Settings in Saudi Arabia

Assignment Title [Social Change and Women’s Violence in Domestic Settings in Saudi Arabia]

Name of Author

Name of Affiliation

Keywords: women’s violence, domestic settings, violence crime

Abstract

This research will focus on the social influences and women’s violence in domestic settings of Saudi Arabia.  The social, religious and cultural changes are usually observed in the form of females’ engagement and independence gained due to higher education and/or employment. In this research we will also observe if these changes have influenced female toward male violence in domestic relationships or not. In addition to this, the focus will be on recognising the academic literature of domestic violence in non-Islamic and non-Arab countries. Thus, the current research will prove to be a positive contribution in the context of domestic violence being studied in an Islamic country that is constituted in Sharia law.

1.       INTRODUCTION:

For a decade or so, we observed tremendous pressure from United Nations on Saudi Arab regarding the women’s right. In 1980, Doumato (2010) described that the women are raising their voice in Saudi Arabian Society against the issues and problems of women’s rights. This was supported by ‘The Saudi Arabian Women’s Rights Organisation’ and ‘The Saudi Arabian Women’s Mosque Movement’. These two organizations took step to officially recognise and fund the women’s movement. The government of Saudi Arab, however, also fully supported the movement in 2010.

Similar changes have also been observed in the context of women’s education and job opportunities (Booz and Company, 2010). According to the Ministry of Education (2009), as compared to the data of 1990-2009, the women’s involvement in higher education has been increased up to a level of 48 percent. According to Booz and Company (2010), now the females have initiated taking part in the labor markets of the country. Since 1995, the Saudi national women’s participation in the workforce has tripled as compared to the previous records. It is now said to have reached about 15 %.

2.       LITERATURE REVIEW:

Dawood (2013), an ultra-right cleric, argues that the Saudi Government has given the women equal opportunities to participate in the education and professional fields. This agenda has greatly encouraged the women to get involved into the higher education and employment opportunities and enjoy their independent rights, it has also made the women more assertive towards males.

Adler (1975) analyzed American society in 1960 and has given her arguments about the concept that USA government gives full freedom to the women for becoming assertive in order to compete the men of the society. Adler (1975) views that the women in American society, have become highly competitive for the men. Their social lives are now considered even better than the lives of men. The women are highly encouraged to get high education and seek the jobs of their desire.

                According to Professor Huwailah (2011), the rate of crimes in Kuwait has tremendously increased since a decade or so just due to the high integration of women in the social activities. He argues that the women are given the liberty to work like the men and their liberty movements are actually the reason for increased crimes in the nation. If the women are given full freedom within Middle East, their assertiveness will keep on increasing and will finally reach at an alarming point.

Krishnan (2006), an Indian feminist, reveals that unemployed women who were given the chance to do jobs in the second visit are more likely to become the reason of social violence. In fact, such ladies have 80 percent chances to become the victim of domestic violence by their husbands. Krishnan has argued that the professional women rely lesser on their husbands for the purpose of living the life, it gives birth to high level of women’s power within the household environment as they have now become independent and don’t find their husbands to be the persons for fulfilling their financial requirements. They, in fact, are able to meet their financial requirements by their own. As a result many women use their financial status as a weapon to compete their husbands.

Gandhi (2008) undertook a research in New Delhi to reveal the relation of education and domestic violence. Her perspective was of a feminist, arguing that the working wives initiate asserting their rights. This is due to the reason that they become independent from a financial point of view, they make use of anti-violence re-asserting rights in order to raise their voices against their husbands. This is, for them, is their social independence and their right.

On the other hand, Dawood (2013) and Huwailah (2011) are offering some interesting and useful perspectives, needing further inquiry to clarify their point of view. For example, there is a strong need to contextualize the model of equal opportunities and independence within the social, political and cultural context of Saudi Arabia.

Krishnan (2006) and Gandhi (2008) has provided some interesting outlines about how financial power grounds female against male violence. It needs greater level of analysis in the context of Saudi Arab society. First of all, we are to view that the legal and political systems of Saudi Arab are based upon the pure Islamic Sharia context. Thus we can say that the women can be regarded as second class citizens from social, legal and political point of view. Also it is needed for the women to less likely get employed at the same level of salary and pay as is of the men in the society. Here comes a question that can the analysis of financial gender power of the women be applicable in Saudi Arab considering the fact that they are new in the world of employment and have just come out of their homes? Also can the unequal pay be settled for both men and women in the professional society?

It is true that India and Saudi Arab are sharing some similar cultural traits, for example extended family households but still the distinction can be governed from the fact that Saudi Arabia is following the practices of Sharia law in which women’s involvement and participation in social and economic life is accorded to religious governance. On the other hand, in India the environment is totally western type. The women of India are financially and potentially free as are in western cultures. So therefore, what impact does Sharia have on women on male domestic violence?

These studies have failed to give specifics about the ethical, cultural and religious demographics, thus we are to consider how ethics, cultures and religions influence the households’ status. In Saudi Arab, for example, polygamy has constitutional recognition and cultural acceptance. But in India it is restricted to the community acceptance level so we cannot fully accept it. Because many of the religions especially Islamic religion does not accept the ethical, cultural and religious practices and believes of India. It is, therefore, essential for us to analyze how polygamy impacts the power relationship of Saudi Arabia household, though it is from a legal perspective or cultural.

According to Elbedour et al (2007), the study of polygamous marriages in Saudi Arabia has led to extreme aggression and violence between married wives, children and their husband/ father was a common occurrence, as members of the families fought over the husband’s betrayals of re-marrying and ‘fatherhood’, sharing of husband’s ‘values’, ‘privilege’ and their hierarchical position in the family. This study is purely based upon ‘domestic power positions’ but still it is quite interesting to explore the impacts, effects and impressions of education and employment of married wives on the context of polygamous relationships. The study of Elbedour et al (2007) has focused on Bedouin tribes where women are given no opportunities of education and employment. They are also not allowed to enjoy their freedom in the nomadic culture. So it becomes essential for us to consider the influence of education and employment on polygamous relationships in non-nomadic cultures. Can we answer the question that if the education and employment power of women are the threatening aspects for the husband’s position within the household, and if violence is employed, as a ‘control’ tactic, could wives be reacting as a means of ‘self-defence’ rather than betrayal? 

Is women’s violence an empowering self-protective mechanism? There are so many interesting and quite useful dynamics in the context of women’s status and polygamous relationships that need further exploration and explanations.

3.       RESEARCH OBJECTIVE:

The purpose of this research is to understand the relationship of women’s independence of education and labor market with that of their propensity to be violent for their husbands. We also need to understand the main reasons behind domestic and social violence, thus the research is aimed to fulfill/meet the following objectives in an effective way;

• It will help exploring the relationship of women’s education and the use of violence at home.
• The research will describe the relationship of women’s jobs and employment with the use of violence at home.
• It will also explore the context of polygamy when women are educated and married, and the dynamics of ‘male family abuse.

4.       METHODOLOGY:

This research will be carried out at Riyadh Women’s Prison. There are some reasons for us to choose this research site, for example all women who are convicted of violent crimes are incarcerated in Riyadh Prison, and since Saudi Arabia offers no ‘correctional community provisions’ such as fines, community orders, a probation service. It has made it difficult to find both gate-keepers and respondents in the community. Since this study will be carried out in the researcher’s hometown, there are no language barriers for conducting the interviews. More importantly, the researcher has a good network of support for assessing suitable respondents and arranging interviews; access has been discussed with a number of key officials in Saudi Arabia, and the researcher was promised access for the interviews. 

5.       SAMPLING:

From the female prisoner population, the researcher will be selecting the committed respondents who are ready to help in the research o domestic violence against men in their families. The women convicted will be categorized into five sample groups:

1)       Ten employed at time of conviction

2)       Ten non-employed at time of conviction

3)       Ten non HE educated

4)       Ten HE educated

5)       Ten in polygamous marriages at time of conviction

The above mentioned selection procedure will be grounded through the use of gate-keepers in the prison, and verified by reading the background information and case files of the respondents. The researcher is planning to interview fifty respondents (women convicted for violence against male family members). Flick (2011) has argued that qualitative samples are usually fewer than fifty, and almost no new evidence will appear after interviewing 20 participants.  Alongside, interviews information will be collected by looking at the case files of female prisoners. This is purposed to obtain information on offence and evidence for conviction. The reason for this being is to gather information pre-determining conviction. For example, is double deviancy determining sentence rather than offence and evidence? If this is the case then how does education and employment of women determine sentencing?   Finally, the researcher will use purposive sampling, because the research is selective with regard to the respondents, the status of respondents and the offence type, as described above. This sampling technique is in-line with how Nachmias (1996) has suggested that the research respondent population is specifically selected, due to research variables.

6.       DATA COLLECTION:

Since this study is explanatory in nature, the qualitative approach fits its description. The major focus and aim of qualitative research is to provide a complete, detailed description of the research topic (Silverman, 2006). In the case of this study, these methods will uncover the drivers behind women’s violence towards their male family members in Saudi Arabia. Semi-structured in-depth interviews will be used to collect qualitative data about domestic violence committed by women in households against men. For example, themes such as family structure, age, income, status and self-defense will be explored in the context of female on male family member domestic violence. The advantage of semi-structured interviews is that they allow respondents to ‘reflect on their own personal stories’.  

This semi-structured approach allows the researcher to control the interview environment. For example, if statements need further clarification, the researcher can prompt for clarity. Also, the interview themes are flexible. Thus, questions can be re-organized, or returned to at a later stage within the interview. Flick (2011) outlines that semi-structured interviews help researchers in ‘managing’ their research context, and offer them flexibility in ‘managing’ their respondents to ensure the fluidity of conversation.  

The interview includes two sections. Section one is composed of structured questions aimed at exploring women’s educational and employment status. Section two includes guided questions, exploring the process of the respondents using violence against men, and the role of the mentioned factors in shaping the respondents’ values, as well as their power relationships with male members in the family.

7.       ANALYSIS:

In this research, the focus will be on using a code method of data transcription. This code method will transcribe the data into two forms; themes and emerging themes. With the help of NVivo program, we’ll create a relationship of common themes by linking, annotating and maintaining them properly. For the purpose of maintaining the original meaning of the sentences, the researcher will use Arabic during the analysis process. But once the analysis is completed, the report and themes will be translated into English language, and might be back from English to Arabic to keep make sure the authenticity of the data, and as stated by the respondents. Hopefully the research will be helpful to obtain sufficient information about specific social, political, cultural and religious contexts of Saudi Arabia society. It has already been made clear that much of the literature of domestic violence is stemmed from non-Muslim Sharia constitutions, so it is quite important to consider the domestic violence from such a platform. Not only this but also this will help exploring the female toward male domestic violence cases. It will also highlight the reports of the incidences of socio-economic factors like women’s employment and educational status which are becoming the reason of violence in our societies.

8.       RESEARCH ETHICS:

The ethical approval will be sought from the Nottingham Trent University Ethics committee, and the research will be carried out according to the guidelines set out by the code of conduct for researchers in British Sociological Association and the British Psychological Society. Ethical considerations will make sure that the participants are provided with enough opportunities to understand the research and any foreseeable consequences of their participation. The researchers will make sure that the confidentiality and anonymity of the participants is maintained. They will also try to take measures for securing the research websites’ access; also the useful information is fully protected. Not only this but also all respondents will be codified (by letter and number), and only the researcher will have access to these codes. These codes will be securely locked away in the researcher’s locker. Once all of the data has been used for research purposes, it will be destroyed in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Nottingham Trent University Ethics Committee. If the disclosures are made during the research process, the respondents will be made fully aware of counseling services and referred to appropriate support services.

9.       RESEARCH SCHEDULE TABLE:

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4

Literature review

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

X

Research planning

X

X

X

Undertaking research

X

X

Data analysis

X

X

X

X

X

Writing up

X

X

X

X

Editing

X

X

X

X

10.    REFERENCES:

Archer, J. 2000. ‘Sex differences in aggression between heterosexual partners: a meta analytic review’. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 651-680. (2000). Sex differences in

Bell, J. 1993. Doing your research project: A guide for first-time researchers in education and social science. 2nd ed. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Booz, A. and Company, G. 2010. Women’s employment in Saudi Arabia a major challenge. New York: Sage Publications.

Browne, A. 1987. When battered women kill. New York: Free Press.

Dawood, A. 2013. Saudi cleric faces backlash over harassment. BBC Online. 25^th September. Available at: http://www.bbcnewsonline.uk/news/uk/article113890.

Denzin, N. K. and Lincoln, Y. S. 2003. Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials. New York: Sage.

Dobash, R. P. and Dobash, R. E. 2004. ‘Women's violence to men in intimate relationships: Working on a puzzle’. British Journal of Criminology (44), 324-349.

Doumato, K. 2010. Social institutions and gender index. United Nations.

Elbedour, S., Bart, W. and Hektner, J. 2007. ‘Relationship between monogamous/ polygamous family structure and the mental health of Bedouin Arab adolescents’. Journal of Adolescence (30), 213-230.

Flick, U. 2011. Introducing research methodology. Hamburg: Sage.

Gandhi, M. 2008. Impact of education on domestic violence and development of women through education. Available at: http:// www.domesticviolences.com/impact-of-education-on-domestic-violence-and-development-of-women-through-education/

Krishnan, S. 2010. ‘Do changes in spousal employment status lead to domestic violence? Insights from a prospective study in Bangalore, India’. Social Science India 2006 (70), 136-43.

Nachmias, D. 1996. Research methods in the social sciences. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Silverman, D. 2006. Interpreting qualitative data: Methods for analysing talk, text and interaction. 3^rd ed. London: Sage.

Swan, S. C. and Snow, O. L. 2002. ‘A typology of women’s use of violence in intimate relationships’. Violence against Women 8 (3), 286-319.