Saudi Arabian human rights activist calls for child abuse law

A Saudi Arabian human rights activist has called for the approval of new laws in the country on child abuse and domestic violence after a five-year-old Saudi girl was beaten to death by her father. "The absence of laws produce cases like Lama, who died waiting for justice, and this absence of legislation will keep producing others like Lama we may or may not know about," Fawziah al Bakr wrote in a Saudi newspaper. The five-year-old Lama al-Ghamdi was admitted to a hospital in Saudi Arabia’s capital city, Riyadh, last March after suffering severe injuries including a crushed skull, broken ribs, bruises and burns. She died of her injuries in October. Lama was reportedly tortured and beaten to death by his father, Fayhan al-Ghamdi, who is a Saudi cleric. "There is an immediate need to call for a draft law that clearly defines all forms of abuse including verbal, psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. [These] behaviors should be clearly identified by lawmakers and Sharia laws and codified,” Bakr pointed out. She also noted that the Saudi Arabian laws need "to catch up with Saudi society." A campaign has also been launched in Saudi Arabia by a women’s rights activist Manal al-Sharif over the issue. Human right activists have repeatedly warned that domestic violence is on the rise in Saudi Arabia.