RAMALLAH, 7 November (IRIN) - The Palestinian authorities have failed to deal with violence against women, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report out today.

The rights group said the Palestinians' current political and economic crisis was no excuse for inaction.

"PA officials across the political spectrum appear to view security only within the context of the ongoing conflict and occupation, all but ignoring the very real security threats that women and girls face at home," said Farida Deif, co-author of 'A Question of Security: Violence Against Palestinian Women and Girls'.

Almost a quarter of all married Palestinian women in the West Bank and Gaza Strip suffer physical violence at the hands of their husbands, according to statistics in the report.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one 35-year-old Palestinian housewife told IRIN she was too scared of being divorced by her abusive husband to complain to the police.

"My husband beats me every time we have a quarrel and sometimes for trivial reasons. His beating sometimes causes obvious bruises on my face, around my eyes and on different parts of my body," she said.

"Despite all this, I never thought of filing a complaint against him to the police because I am scared of his retaliation and he might divorce me. I don't have a certificate or a profession that can help me find a job and support my six children in case he did that."

In its report, HRW interviewed more than 100 women across the West bank and Gaza, documenting dozens of cases of violence ranging from spousal and child abuse to rape, incest and so-called honour killings.

Discriminatory laws against women

Researchers found that laws discriminating against women and condoning and perpetuating violence against them combined with a lack of support for victims, left Palestinian women with little protection and has deterred them from reporting abuse.

According to a survey of 4,212 households by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 23 per cent of married Palestinian women had been treated violently by their husbands, while 61.7 per cent suffered psychological abuse and 10.5 per cent had been sexually abused by them.

Of those women, just 1.2 per cent filed a complaint with the police and less than one per cent sought counselling or police protection.

HRW criticised the Palestinian police, saying they lack the expertise and the will to address violence against women in a sensitive manner.

Police officers admitted to researchers that they encouraged victims of rape to marry their aggressors, sometimes with the assistance of influential clan leaders. They also often force women to return to their families even when there is a substantial risk of further harm.

"When confronted with cases of violence against women and girls, the Palestinian criminal justice system is more interested in avoiding public scandal than in seeing justice done," said Lucy Mair, the report's other researcher and co-author. "A woman's basic right to life and bodily integrity is seen as a secondary concern at best."

Few women dare report abuse

Palestinian Police Spokesman Adnan Al Dhamiri admitted few women dare report abuse and claimed that those who do complain usually solve the matter amicably without going to court.

"A small number of women who were subject to violence resort to police to file complaints against their abusers because [most others] are afraid of the husband or father's reaction and of a society that looks down on the woman who files a complaint against one of her relatives," he said.

"I know there are many women who are victims of violence but we cannot look for them in their houses. And we cannot force them not to give up their right to proceed in her complaint against her abuser," he added.

Despite the report's view that the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territories was no excuse for violence against women, some Palestinian women did blame abuse on the conditions they live in.

"Violence against women is increasing because of the increasing rate of poverty and unemployment due to the Israeli siege of cities and villages and because of the unpaid salaries," said I'tidal Al Jariri, a consultant at the Palestinian Working Women Society for Development.

She referred to the 160,000 Palestinian civil servants who have not been properly paid since January after Hamas - considered a terrorist organisation by the European Union, the US and Israel - was democratically elected to power.

"Men find it difficult to find jobs and this increases fights at homes, which end by violence against women because they are weaker, according to men," she added.

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