“Violence Against Women: A Cross-Cultural Perspective”

Examining public attitudes towards violence against women, this paper provides a wider perspective by discussing violence against women in the Arab world and beyond with a cross-cultural overview followed by a focus on Saudi society. It presents the findings of an opinion survey conducted among men and women in the city of Jeddah. It examines their attitudes towards wife abuse and violence against women in the context of Saudi society. The paper outlines the methodology of the study and analyses the major findings by classifying them under forms of violence, the perpetrators of violence, rate of occurrence, as well as the cultural context. The paper concludes with major findings indicating that perpetrators of violence were themselves victims of violence and abuse; most respondents approved of physical punishment as necessary; many conclude that violence is an effective way of dealing with female ‘misconduct’. And the majority of male respondents felt this way, while the majority of women felt that men who abused women were not ‘real men’ and were only exploiting their positions.