Resounding Statements... and a Bitter Reality
Recently, newspapers have featured statements by some officials responsible for Kuwaiti family affairs, claiming a decline in domestic violence cases and asserting that the government is proceeding with amendments to laws affecting societal life. They point out that sexual assault crimes within the family have become non-negotiable offenses, as if the sole concern troubling the justice system for Kuwaiti families is this specific crime alone.
No one disputes the importance of imposing stricter penalties for serious crimes within the family, nor the necessity of protecting victims. However, are such statements alone sufficient to convince the public that family justice has improved?
If the discussion concerns the success of the Domestic Violence Law, it is only fair to view the family file as an integrated system, rather than focusing on a single law or one statistical indicator. True success is not measured by the number of reports or cases, but by the stability of the family, the reduction in divorce rates, and the ability of state institutions to contain disputes before they reach the courts.
If the family reform system is indeed achieving the success officials speak of, why do divorce rates remain high? Why are family conflicts increasing, particularly malicious complaints and juvenile cases? Why are courts flooded with cases regarding custody, visitation rights, alimony, and enforcement?
Departments of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs, family counseling centers, reconciliation and visitation centers, and juvenile centers, among others, remain unable to perform the roles for which they were established, despite the significant financial costs the state incurs to maintain them.
Notably, recent statements focused on the decline in domestic violence crimes, linking this directly to the law. This is an unobjective reading, as any change in figures must be studied in light of all surrounding factors, including regional conditions and the ongoing war, which have caused pressures. The functioning of the Public Prosecution was affected during this period, as was its operations due to part-time working hours and the suspension of receiving reports. This impacted the registration of cases, the speed of investigations, and therefore, attributing the decline solely to the law constitutes a hasty conclusion.
Over the past years, we have followed numerous statements regarding the development of the Personal Status Law, the modernization of the family system, the review of visitation centers, and the realization of the child’s best interests. Yet the result is that complaints remain unchanged, families continue to suffer, courts are overcrowded, and social media is filled with stories of fathers, mothers, and children paying the price for a system that requires genuine review.
Citizens today no longer seek reassuring statements; they want tangible results. They expect family counseling departments and reconciliation centers to fulfill their role in reducing divorce, and visitation centers to facilitate genuine communication between children and their parents, rather than superficial meetings that last only a few hours, if they occur at all.
If the ministry confirms a decline in some indicators of domestic violence, the success of the law cannot be measured by the number of reports alone, but by the extent to which family stability is achieved. Have divorce rates and juvenile crimes also decreased?
Or have some spouses begun to avoid even legitimate guidance, fearing that any dispute might be exploited to file a report against them? If the law has reduced reports but weakened the educational role of the family head and increased family disintegration, then it has not achieved its intended goal.
Therefore, reforming the family system does not begin with officials’ statements, but in the courtroom, in enforcement administration, and in the state’s ability to translate legal texts into tangible reality, evidenced by a reduction in cases and the effectiveness of enforcement.
The family does not need slogans or media headlines as much as it needs genuine institutional reform, grounded in measuring outcomes through comprehensive indicators and in-depth studies. When citizens witness this reform in practice, there will be no need for press statements to convince them, as reality itself will serve as the best testament to the system’s success.
