Domestic violence victim calls for dissociation from abusive father

A victim of domestic violence has shared her horror story on a popular Arabic television program.
Rawan, who had been abused by her father for years, told TV presenter Dawood Al-Shirian on the “Al-Thamina” program that she hopes to sever all legal ties with her father by coming off his guardianship to protect her three-year-old daughter, who was sexually assaulted by her own grandfather.
Rawan, who married a drug addict just to get away from her old man — now in prison in Bisha facing several charges, including her daughter’s assault — was herself forced into using drugs.
She had spent four years living with her sisters at a family house, while their father used their house to spend nights with girls taking drugs.
Her father is facing charges of harassment, homosexuality and drugs.
“I will never forgive him for sexually abusing my daughter and threatening to kill me before he escaped from Jeddah to Riyadh,” she said.
Osama Al-Zaid, undersecretary for arbitration and counseling at the Ministry of Justice, said that if the charges are proven in court, the man will be forced to drop the guardianship of his daughter.
Rawan can apply directly via the website of the Ministry of Justice to initiate her case, he said.
A judge at another court, however, said that Rawan cannot be free of a guardian because she still has an adult brother.
Ahmad Al-Sayari, Baha governorate spokesman, said the governorate would deal with the case immediately and that Rawan had previously submitted a document saying that her father prevented her from remarrying.
He said the subject was referred to the region’s reconciliation commission, the authority tasked with dealing with private family matters.