On its second day, the "My Protection" Forum offered a review of the mechanisms for combating violence against women, to which a full session was allocated, chaired by the Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Vice Dean of Al-Leith University College, Dr. Iman Al-Lihaibi. During the session, a package of relevant studies, policies, and procedures was examined.

The forum, organized by the Vice President for Female Student Affairs in conjunction with the Global 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign, included a panel discussion on domestic violence, which was conducted by Assistant Professor of the Department of Social Services, Dr. Amina Al-Jindi, along with a group of students from the College of Social Sciences, namely Nada Al-Maliki, Nada Al-Sharif, Aishah Al-Mansur Arwa Al-Qurashi, and Ranin Al-Hudhali.

As for the studies highlighted by the forum, the academic member of the Department of Islamic Education, Prof. Dr. Safiyyah Bakhit, discussed the forms of violence practiced against women, supported by several statistics. During her talk, she also touched upon the efforts made by the Arab Women Organization in this regard by establishing an Arab framework for the protection of women against violence. She further pointed to the provision of practical mechanisms that support Arab Member States in developing and implementing the national mechanisms that combat violence against women.

She stated that experience had shown the inability of positive laws to give women their rights and to provide them with protection, although they were raising slogans in their favor, and stressed that Islamic law granted women their full rights, preserved their honor and dignity, and provided them with full protection and security until they enjoyed the same rights and had the same obligations as men. She emphasized, "Women have become equal to men in all rulings except for those excluded based on legal evidence."

On the policy-making front, Advisor to the UQU Vice President for Female Student Affairs and Associate Professor in the Department of Classical Arabic Rhetoric and Literary Criticism, Dr. Haifaa Fida, said, "Islam has preserved the rights of all people and has forbidden injustice in all its forms and facets. It regarded all wronged people as equally deserving to receive justice, and also made all aggressors equally accountable and subject to punishment."

She indicated that Saudi Arabia has followed the teachings of Islam in this aspect, based on the right of the ruler of Muslims to enact laws within the framework of Qiyas or Ijtihad exercised in lawmaking. She said, "The State, with all its institutions, has established laws that secure all that may contribute to preserving rights and deterring injustice."

Dr. Haifaa Fida reinforced what she said by mentioning two important articles contained in the Royal Decree on the system of protection from abuse, namely the Seventh Article and the Fifteenth Article. She then highlighted in her speech the role of the laws laid down by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development that aim at providing protection to women of any age, and children under the age of eighteen, and some vulnerable groups who are subjected to abuse and domestic violence of all kinds.

She also reviewed the achievements of the Protective Home in terms of its regulations, workshops, programs, new units that were opened, and awareness campaigns that were launched. Next she moved on to the policies related to the reports received by the Ministry of Labor and Social Development and the methods of dealing with them, and also the mechanisms that the Public Security Organ "Police" use to deal with domestic violence issues.

Prof. Noura Al-Rushud, Professor of Regulations at the University of Umm Al-Qura University, gave a presentation on the procedures related to the mechanism of combating violence against women through reports and relevant international documents.

It is worth noting that tomorrow, Wednesday, will witness the launch of the third session, which will shed light on issues and consultations regarding the manifestations of violence, whether domestic, physical, psychological, or social abuse.