Fathers blamed for most child violence cases

Fathers were responsible for most of the child violence cases handled by a key family establishment in Dubai in 2010 and more than two thirds of the victims were girls, according to the local press.

The Dubai Women and Children's Care Centre said it handled 31 children who were subject to family violence in 2010 and that 23 of them were girls.

Around 10 per cent of the victims were sexually abused while the remaining cases involved physical and psychological violence, verbal abuse, human trade, emotional pressure, deprivation, and negligence by parents.

“The centre handled 112 new cases last year, including 31 children who were subject to all forms of family violence….fathers were responsible for around 87 per cent of the child violence cases,” the centre’s director Afra Al Basti said.

Quoted by the Dubai-based Emirat Alyoum Arabic language daily, she said the victims were aged between one month and 18 years and that 17 children were Emiratis. The rest included several other nationalities.

Around 32 per cent of the victims, or 10 children, were in the primary class while nearly 29 per cent were below school age, 9.7 per cent in the kindergarten age and the rest in different ages, Basti said.

“About 10 per cent of them were sexually abused while 42 per cent were subject to physical violence and 68 per cent suffered from several sorts of violence, including physical, emotional and verbal abuse.”

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