Victims of domestic violence in the Maghreb region often have nowhere to go when shelters are full, local and international experts said at a Tunis conference.

Crowded women's shelters in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are turning away hundreds of women every year, according to participants at the recent "Right to Accommodation and Shelter for Abused Women" seminar in Tunis.

"We provide legal and medical assistance, but we don't have a shelter centre for applicants," noted Hayat al-Wertani of Tunisia's Association for Democratic Women (TADW)."The Association doesn't have solutions other than listening to women and directing them to the authorities."

Victims and aid workers attending the February 13th event recounted comparable shelter problems throughout the Maghreb. One Tunisian woman said that she and her daughter were forced to wait across the street from a shelter until dawn, after her husband expelled them from their house.

Such delays are common, according to the head of Morocco's Institution of Solidarity with Women in Distress (INSAF).

"Last year alone we received 1,112 applications," Nabila Tbeur said. "But we could only accept a quarter of that number. We moved to a larger facility in 2008 when a donor donated a 4 story building, but our capacity is limited."

Morocco has three shelters for abused women and five centres for single mothers. Authorities received 12,710 complaints of domestic violence between October 2008 and September 2009, according to the National Counselling Centre.

Other Maghreb women's shelters face "largely similar challenges", Sabrina Ouared of Algeria's SOS Women in Danger (SOSWD) said. SOSWD receives about 30 applications from abused women every month, she said, but her shelter can only house 45 women.

Shelter workers often assume personal responsibility for their applicants, TADW president Sanaa Ben Achour said.

"Abused women, in a moment, can find themselves without shelter for their children," she explained. "They often need financial assistance to meet their urgent needs, and in many cases the members of our association are obliged to provide shelter for abused women in their own houses."

"They do this in spite of the risks that may result, since we don't know how husbands and families may react," Ben Achour added.

Abused women face other challenges.

"Most of the victims are illiterate women who don't know any trades," Moroccan advocate Tbeur noted. "So we hold workshops to train them in a trade and then place them in jobs so that they can face life after leaving the shelter."

Seminar participants called for government assistance.

"I think it's about time that we produced a shift on all levels - starting with the enactment of legislation that responds to the needs of abused women and their children - in order to put an end to the discrimination that women suffer in a masculine society," Ben Achour said.

A Spanish delegation discussed their experiences with domestic violence at the seminar. Spanish women's organisations have lobbied the government and local authorities to enact legislation on abused women, Maria Nariduo said.

"This is in addition to budgeting money and training psychological specialists to deal with abused women," she said.

Tbeur applauded the opportunity to collaborate with regional organisations at the seminar.

"Such meetings give us a chance to exchange experiences and co-operate among ourselves, to kick off Maghreb-wide efforts to educate people about the seriousness of this issue," she said.

Nevertheless, Tbeur said, "we still have a long way ahead of us before we reach a real shift that gives single mothers their full rights and real opportunities in the labour market".

Source: Magharebia.com  By Jamel Arfaoui