The Women's Protection Centre in Sharjah, which provides various social services, has dealt with 103 cases of aggrieved women since it was established in 2011.

The centre had dealt with 19 cases of violence this month, Mariam Ismaeel, director of the centre, said.

Six of these cases involved physical violence while in seven cases, women were subjected to domestic violence. In six cases, women had been rendered homeless while in one case a woman had escaped.

In ten cases, the centre was able to ensure that the aggrieved women were integrated into the society again.

She added that as per the Sharjah Social Services Department (SSD), the centre runs a 24x7 free hotline 800800700 that provides legal aid to women and also offers social and psychiatric counselling. It also helps resolve family problems for which it provides legal, social and psychiatric expertise.

Fatma Al Shehhi, a social specialist working with the centre, stated that women approaching the facility were in the age group of 18 to 59 years. The centre offered rehabilitation programmes, including religious and cultural workshops and cooking classes, she added.

In most cases, disputes were either a result of marital discords or misunderstanding within families, she said.

source: WAM