NABLUS, March 19, 2012 (WAFA) – A total of 37% of ever-married women were subjected to some type of abuse in the Palestinian Territory in 2011, the head of the Division of Gender Statistics of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics Ashraf Hamdan said Monday.

He said that 55.1% of women experienced economic violence, while 58.6%, 54.8%, 23.5%, 11.8% of women were subjected to psychological, social, physical and sexual violence respectively.

In a meeting held in Nablus to view the results of the national survey on violence in the Palestinian society in 2011, Hamdan said that half of the households were subjected to direct violence by Israeli forces and settlers.

He added that violence against individuals between the ages of 18 and 64 reached 11.6% of those within that age bracket, of which 10.9% were males and 27% females.

Regarding violence against children under 17, the survey showed that 51% of them were abused by one of their parents.

About 27% of students were subjected to violence in school, of which 32% were males, compared to 23% of females.

The survey said violence against elderly people over 65 years reached 7.3%.

As for the percentage of men who were subjected to violence by their wives in Nablus governorate, the survey showed that it reached 10.8%, according to their wives.

Palestinian Legislative Council member Walid Assaf said that there are a lot of abuse cases that refuse to disclose violence against them, which does not give a clear credibility to the survey.

T.R./M.S.