Recently, the domestic violence issues throughout Saudi Arabia have become increasingly apparent, leading to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Social Affairs launching a Domestic Violence Hotline last month.
In the first three days of starting the hotline, over 3,000 calls were made from victims reporting domestic violence. Faced with an overwhelming need and severely limited options for survivors, the Ministry reached out across the globe to The Network for assistance.
Arab American Family Services co-founder Itedal Shalabi and Gwyn Kaitis of the Network’s Domestic Violence Hotline answered the call.
Shalabi and Kaitis were invited to Saudi Arabia to provide training and technical assistance to the new Hotline team. While there, Shalabo and Kaitis were able to share their expertise with over 60 participants from the National Family Safety Program, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Social Affairs, hospital medical staff, and U.S. Embassy staff.
The program was sponsored by the United States Embassy, Department of Cultural Affairs, with training taking place in both Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Training was also done on safety planning, crisis intervention and female empowerment, demonstrating the global desire and need for woman to share the same testament: to want, need, and deserve safe homes and that when groups of women work together, anything is possible.
“We need to recognize that women all over the world have the same goals in mind,” Shalabi said. “We should not look at women in another country and say they are oppressed, we need to realize that many women are fighting the same battles that women fought in America forty and fifty years ago,” she said. “We need to support their fight and empower them and help them empower themselves,” she said.
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