KUWAIT CITY: Women in Kuwait demanded better protections from male violence at a protest in response to the murder of a woman by a man who was previously reported to authorities for harassing her.
Farah Hamza Akbar was on Tuesday taken from her car by a man who took her away, stabbed her and left her outside a hospital, the family’s lawyer and Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said.
Her bleeding body was later found outside a hospital south of Kuwait City. The incident has re-ignited criticism of how women are treated by society and the law in the Gulf state.
The killing comes two months after a movement began in Kuwait online calling for better protection for women from harassment and violence, dubbed Kuwait’s #metoo moment.
“Women in Kuwait have complained that police do not take their complaints seriously and can leave them further at risk when they report violence to them,” said Rothna Begum of Human Rights Watch.
Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said they arrested an unidentified male citizen quickly after he abducted a woman. The arrested man admitted to stabbing the victim in the chest and killing her.
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The family’s lawyer sais Farah, on the day of her death, was followed by the suspect her while she was leaving her house with her daughter and niece. He crashed his car into hers and took her away. He said the family had lodged complaints against him previously.
Activists say speaking openly about domestic violence, honour-related violence and harassment have traditionally been taboo. A campaign has been running for several years to overturn a part of the penal code which allows men reduced sentences for killing women found in the act of adultery.
Last September, a new law introduced some protections against domestic violence. In the same month, a pregnant Kuwaiti was shot to death by her brother due to a marriage dispute.
