DUBAI // Marital abuse is “an infection” in every country, said Amna Al Mutawa, a case manager at the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children.
"Domestic violence happens and is a common issue," she said. "It is not a community issue; it is worldwide, unfortunately."
The foundation offers counselling, legal advice and other services to women in distress. Anyone seeking help for domestic violence can call the foundation hotline on 800-111.
“We try to empower them to seek more sources for support: financial support, social support and maybe vocational training,” Ms Al Mutawa said.
Programmes to help women find work are crucial, she added.
“In order to make them feel important, they have to work,” she said. “They have to make their hands busy and minds busy.”
Ultimately, stronger deterrents are needed to prevent the problem in the first place, said Jouslin Khairallah, a lawyer in Dubai.
“The date we pass the red signal, we understand very well we will pay a fine and our car will be in the traffic department for a month, so we will do it very carefully,” she said.
Tough penalties for domestic violence could include reports to an offender’s workplace or even visa cancellation, she suggested.
There is also a need for more female officers to handle cases, said Sarah (not her real name), an Abu Dhabi mother who filed an abuse case against her former husband. The procedure was clear and police took it seriously, she said. But the only woman she encountered during the process was her lawyer.
“It’s embarrassing because I think if there was a woman, she would understand more,” she said.
Sarah also suggested a 24-hour domestic-violence hotline dedicated for Abu Dhabi.
“Things generally tend to blow up on a Friday,” she said. “I can’t reach anybody.”
DFWAC focuses on Dubai but does have clients from other emirates, Ms Al Mutawa said.
“They don’t have places to go,” she said.
Sharjah Social Services also runs a shelter and hotline: call 800-800-700.
vnereim@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes
The package
Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January
The info
Visit www.gokorea.co.uk
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
