Bahrain will fight domestic violence with the launch of new database

Nisaa FM: - Bahrain has taken a new giant leap in its fight against abuses after the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) launched Takatof, a database and statistics of domestic violence.

UN Under-Secretary-General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and UN Women Executive Director Ines Makkawi witnessed the launch and heard SCW Secretary General Hala Al Ansari (pictured right) announce that "Bahrain is a major contributor to the international efforts to combat violence against women thanks to the growth of relations between the Supreme Council for Women and the UN commission for women."

Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka welcomed Bahrain's cooperation with the UN on all issues related to women and lauded the efforts by SCW in launching the unified database coinciding with the international campaign against violence targeting women.

This year, UN Women and partners around the world are marking the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (November 25 – December 10) under the theme of "Orange the World: Raise Money to End Violence against Women and Girls".

The database: a tool to monitor and follow up on violence cases

Takatof is a national database run by the Ministry of the Interior. The database is a source of knowledge available to the SCW in dealing with cases of domestic violence. The database and statistics of domestic violence aim to monitor and follow up the various cases of domestic violence through a sophisticated electronic platform for a unified data log of violence and changes in the status of abused women, she added.

SCW Secretary General Al Ansari said that the adoption of standardized definitions and classifications of cases of violence would help access to studies and figures that contribute to consolidate the status of Bahrain in international reports. It also enables the concerned parties to provide support in cases of violence and facilitate access to health, psychological and social services provided by state institutions. Ms. Al Ansari stressed that the privacy and secrecy of the database is necessary to maintain the cases monitored and separated from the database of criminal information.

Ms. Al Ansari attributed successes to the outstanding efforts exerted by the Supreme Council for Women as part of the National Strategy for the Advancement of Bahraini Women 2013-2020 and to the contributions of the interior ministry, official, civil society organizations and media partners in the fight against domestic violence. The efforts have eventually led to the establishment of a common database linked to all concerned sides, she said.

Source: www.gulfnews.com