Lack of deterrent leads to rise in rate of murders of women

Headline: "Hamad: The lack of deterrent law is the reason for the rise in crimes in Palestinian society"

"In a statement published yesterday [June 7, 2019], the [PA] Ministry for Women's Affairs expressed its great sorrow and strong concern in light of the rise in violence and murder in general in Palestinian society, and the rise in the murder of women in particular, the rate of which has risen in recent weeks.

[PA] Minister of Women's Affairs Dr. Amal Hamad emphasized that there are a number of factors in the rise in the rate of crime in our Palestinian society, the most important of which is the lack of deterrent punishment, and the second factor is 'the tribal solution' which a number of areas are implementing now instead of the law…

Hamad noted that the social, financial, and psychological conditions and the unemployment and poverty from which our society is suffering are all factors that have contributed to the rise in the rate of crime, and emphasized that despite these conditions, if deterrent law were implemented in one case it would deter everyone, and therefore the law needs to be followed and implemented seriously.

The minister of women's affairs said: 'We are working together with the [PA] government in order to implement laws and legislation that will protect the women and define as criminal acts all of the types of violence committed against them, whether in the family or in society, and also in order to take firm steps to safeguard and protect women from violence. This is particularly so after the State of Palestine has joined several human rights agreements, and primarily the agreement to eliminate all types of discrimination against women, and also the serious effort to legislate the punitive law that protects our right to life and defines killing as a criminal act, and the law to protect the family from violence.’"