Liberation, patriarchal practices and women’s use of violence in the domestic setting in Saudi Arabia FOWZAH KHADHAR A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Nottingham Trent University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2018 Declaration This work is the intellectual property of the author. You may copy up to 5% of this work for private study, or personal, non-commercial research. Any reuse of this information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level and pagination. Queries of requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed in the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights. i | P a g e Acknowledgement I would like to dedicate this thesis to my Parents and my Husband: Thank you for all the love, support and encouragement that you have given me through-out my studies. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors: Dr Chak Kwan Chan, Dr Bowpitt Graham and Professor Andromachi Tseloni. Thank you very much for your patience, support and guidance which has enabled me to develop, enhance and finalise my PhD. ii | P a g e ABSTRACT Both women and men suffer from domestic violence around the world. While domestic violence against women has received considerable research attention, domestic violence against men has been under-studied, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The limited data available from the National Family Safety Registry of Saudi Arabia and the National Society for Human Rights suggest that female- perpetrated domestic violence has been increasing in Saudi Arabia. Existing studies further indicate that the Saudi women, especially those with higher levels of education, are becoming increasingly frustrated with the prevalence of the guardianship system in Saudi Arabia. This research therefore aims to understand the reasons for why women commit violence against men in Saudi Arabia and to study the role of patriarchy (guardianship, polygamy) and female emancipation (for education and employment) in the rise of the female-perpetrated domestic violence in Saudi Arabia. In so doing, the dissertation also examines the explanatory value of the existing theoretical accounts (liberation and self-defence theories). The dissertation employs a qualitative research method, using the data obtained through the semi- structured interviews conducted at the Riyadh Prison for Women (Saudi Arabia) with 30 women who were incarcerated for committing violence against their guardians. A thematic analysis is used to analyse the obtained data. It is shown that participants in this study committed their offence due to a number of reasons such as frustrations with living under the guardian system, prevention from education and employment, abuse and mistreatment, and self-defence. Furthermore, the study find that liberation theory can be used to explain some aspects of participant’s use of violence, however, the term ‘liberation’ itself needs to be understood differently in the Saudi context. iii | P a g e Table of Contents CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................... 1 2. Female Perpetrated Domestic Violence in Saudi Arabia ................................... 2 3. Defining Domestic Violence .............................................................................. 4 4. Liberation Theory .............................................................................................. 5 5. Self-Defence Theory .......................................................................................... 7 6. Aims, Method and Respondents ....................................................................... 8 7. Summary of Contribution ................................................................................ 12 8. Structure of the Thesis .................................................................................... 12 CHAPTER 2 – WOMEN IN SAUDI PATRIARCHAL SOCIETY 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 15 2. Saudi Arabia – An Overview ............................................................................ 15 2.1. Islamic Law - Shariah ............................................................................... 16 3. The Patriarchal System in Saudi Arabia ........................................................... 18 3.1. Sources of Patriarchal Elements in Saudi Arabia ..................................... 19 3.2. Male Guardianship as a form of Patriarchy ............................................. 21 3.2.1. Male guardianship and sexual and domestic violence against women in Saudi Arabia ................................................................................................ 25 3.3. Polygamy as a form of Patriarchy ............................................................ 26 4. Social and Political Rights of Women in Saudi Arabia and Women’s Role ...... 30 4.1. Women’s Education................................................................................. 31 4.2. Women’s Share in Employment .............................................................. 36 5. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER 3 – DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 42 2. Domestic Violence ........................................................................................... 42 3. Female-perpetrated domestic violence in numbers........................................ 48 4. Why Do Women Commit Domestic Violence? ................................................ 55 4.2. Alcohol and drugs use ............................................................................. 56 4.3. Provocation by Women ........................................................................... 57 4.4. Anger ....................................................................................................... 58 iv | P a g e 4.5. Retribution .............................................................................................. 58 4.6. Fear and Defence of Children .................................................................. 59 5. Feminist theory and the Liberation Theory ..................................................... 59 5.1. Feminist Theory – Origins and Evolution ................................................. 60 5.2. Liberation Movement and Women’s use of Violence .............................. 62 5.3. Women’s Employment and Challenges to the Male Authority ............... 65 5.4. Role of education .................................................................................... 66 5.5. Adler’s Liberation Theory ........................................................................ 67 5.6. Criticism of the Liberation Theory ........................................................... 70 6. Self- Defence ................................................................................................... 71 7. Why Liberation and Self-Defence Theories ..................................................... 74 8. Female-Perpetrated Domestic Violence in Saudi Arabia ................................. 78 9. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 79 CHAPTER 4 – METHODOLOGY 1. Introduction .................................................................................................... 80 1.1. Research Aims and Research Questions .................................................. 80 2. Research Approaches ...................................................................................... 81 2.1. Research Philosophy................................................................................ 81 2.2. Qualitative Research ............................................................................... 83 3. Sampling.......................................................................................................... 85 4. Ethical Consideration ...................................................................................... 87 5. Access .............................................................................................................. 89 6. Interviews ....................................................................................................... 90 7. Data Collection ................................................................................................ 90 7.1. Semi-Structured Interviews ..................................................................... 91 7.2. Interview Schedule .................................................................................. 92 7.3. Use of Language ...................................................................................... 95 8. Data Analysis ................................................................................................... 99 8.1. Coding Procedure .................................................................................. 100 8.2. Reliability and Validity ........................................................................... 105 9. Characteristics of the Respondents ............................................................... 106 10. Conclusion ....................................................................................................