UAE court ruling on men beating wives slammed

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Human Rights Watch has slammed a ruling by an Emirati court which condones the beating of wives by their husbands, saying it sends out a signal that violence against women and children is acceptable.

According to press reports, the United Arab Emirates’ Federal Supreme Court in a ruling released on Sunday said that “a man has the right to discipline his wife and children provided he does not leave physical marks.”

Nadya Khalife, Middle East women’s rights researcher at HRW, said in a statement the ruling indicated acceptance of domestic violence which “should never be tolerated under any circumstances.”

“This ruling by the United Arab Emirates’ highest court is evidence that the authorities consider violence against women and children to be completely acceptable,” Khalife said in the late-Tuesday statement.

The New York-based group urged the UAE government “to repeal all discriminatory laws, including any that sanction domestic violence.”

The UAE’s ruling “violates the right of the country’s women and children to liberty, security, and equality in the family, and potentially their right to life,” the statement said.

“These provisions are blatantly demeaning to women and pose serious risks to their well-being.”

In the ruling, reported on Monday by The National newspaper, Chief Justice Falah al-Hajeri wrote: “Although the (law) permits the husband to use his right (to discipline), he has to abide by the limits of this right.”

The court also ruled that a man who “slapped and kicked his daughter and slapped his wife” violated his “right” under sharia, or Islamic law, to discipline his wife and children, as he beat his wife too severely and his daughter, aged 23, was too old for such discipline.

The UAE is less conservative than some Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, where women cannot drive and need a male guardian’s permission to travel.

But Islamic religious law remains a part of the legal framework in the UAE, which also has secular laws. –Agence France-Presse