It sounds a bit like Cinderella, there is a stepmother who is mean to her stepchild, but this is no fairytale, and there is no happy ending. This is the story of Nouf, a nine-year-old Emirati girl, who was beaten so badly by her stepmother that she had to be admitted to the intensive care ward of a hospital. Nouf's father also participated in beating her.
Nouf was beaten so badly that she had become "80 per cent immobile". Her stepmother confessed to burning Nouf by placing hot knives on the child's thighs.
What type of human being does this?
I'll tell you, the type that believes no one is watching, and that they can get away with it. If you do not have a conscience, if you are not God fearing, and if you simply do not believe in decency and the sanctity of every life, then there is no telling what pain you would inflict on others.
Nouf's parents are living examples of how - left unchecked - some human beings can cross an invisible line, and become monsters.
The moral of the story, human beings without laws, without social order, are liable to commit grave atrocities.
Laws protect rights, and should be there to specifically protect the rights of the weak. Laws impose a set of standards for behaviour and engagement which are enforced through government institutions. But laws in themselves are not enough. You need an active civil society and civil society institutions, which support these laws by providing the networks and support systems to protect the victims of abuse, and to break the cycle that these abuses create.
For you, Nouf's story ends here, you put down the paper, and go on with your day, but for Nouf, this story is just beginning.
When her physical wounds heal and she leaves the hospital, then the psychological battle begins.
Nouf will face tremendous emotional trauma for a long time in her life trying to understand how her own father did not protect her, how her own father tortured her, trying to understand how she was the victim of such cruelty, wondering how come society (her mother, her grandmother, her teachers, the housemaids, the neighbours) could not notice her bruises.
Even if she is able to conquer that trauma, she will always be haunted by the memories of such cruelty which deprived her of her childhood.
Islam teaches us that children are an amana from God, a sacred thing from God given to us so that we may guard it with our lives. Islam teaches us to always protect the weak, to guard their right. Obviously in our world these morals are not held as sacred.
I said this story does not have a happy ending, and it does not. But with all the pain that Nouf has faced, at least her suffering was not in vain.
Her story made the headlines. Her story shed light across the UAE on the issue of child abuse. Her story pushed further the new federal draft legislation for the protection of the rights of children in the UAE. Her story will save many Noufs out there who continue to live with abuse.
Her story sent a message to every monster out there, that if you abuse a child, there will be a heavy price to pay.
Her story shed light on the fact that our legal system which in divorce cases automatically gives custody of a young child to the father is neither just nor wise in doing so.
How many Noufs are there? We only found out about her story because she ended up in the hospital. Child abuse is not something that just happens to other people's kids, it's very real, it's happening in our communities, and it creates vicious scars not just on the abused, but also on society. It weighs on our healthcare system, but mostly it deprives us of the true potential of human beings, who because of the abuse they have suffered are often rendered unstable and incapable of giving.
According to the UN, hundreds of millions of children around the world suffer abuse and neglect. Our government has done its part by putting forward a law to protect children and it will do more, but now it's time for civil society, which means you, it's time for you to do your part. So strive to be a better parent, if you see signs of abuse report it, become a volunteer in suitable charities and child rehabilitation programmes, give donations to help in the development of such programmes.
What are you waiting for? You can make a difference, so go out there and inspire change that makes this a better world.
Najla Al Awadhi is a member of the Federal National Council.
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