5% of married Saudi men victims of spousal abuse

DAMMAM — Violence and physical abuse are traditionally linked with men carrying out these acts against their women.

However, court cases in the Kingdom suggest that this violence and abuse is sometimes reversed, where the victim is the husband, according to a report in Al-Yaum newspaper.

Difficult as it may seem to believe, the reality is that there are husbands who are abused and insulted by their wives. They prefer to remain anonymous to avoid being demeaned by others.

Um Mohammad said that she could never have imagined that her strong-willed son would turn into a lame, easily guided person and abused by his wife.

Um Khalid said she witnessed an argument between a couple in the market. To her surprise, the wife beat her husband with his ‘Iqal’ (headgear) and her shoes in front of onlookers to vent her fury.

Um Saad lived briefly with her married son. She could not bear his wife’s treatment and abuse of her son, and decided to leave them and live alone.

Dr. Maha Al-Menaif, consultant in the Shoura Council and executive director of the National Family Safety Program, said 5 percent of married men in the Kingdom are victims of abuse by their wives, while in the United States, the rate is 30 percent.

Abuse against men takes many shapes, Al-Menaif added. It can be physical, verbal, humiliation, deprivation of marital rights and even murder.

Some women resort to witchcraft to gain complete control over their husbands. Others commit adultery to punish their husbands with something they can never forget.

Sahar Mohammad, a psychologist, said a woman’s financial independence creates an excessive feeling of self-importance. It puts her at par with her husband, and she refuses to heed her husband’s commands.

She added that women’s abuse of their husbands “may be a reaction to the tyrannies they faced in their childhood, and they find comfort today in taking revenge.” — SG