RIYADH, Nov 26: Prominent Saudi women have called upon the government to take measures for protecting victims of domestic violence in the country.

"We want policy change so that courts and police can process cases of domestic violence and protect women," they told reporters.

Their comments were carried by the press here on the occasion of the UN's Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed throughout the world on Thursday. Statistics on the number of women who suffer domestic violence, either by their husbands or other male relatives, are unavailable in Saudi Arabia, but many women insist that things must change.

"There is an abuse of women in our society just like any other society but it's not clear the size of this problem here," said Dr Lubna al Ansari, a professor at King Saud University in Riyadh and member of the National Society for Human Rights.

"The society is collecting information on this issue and will discuss it from all perspectives and present its findings," she said. "When a woman is beaten, she does not speak out because that brings shame to her family even when she is admitted to hospital," psychiatrist Madeha al Ajroush said.

Saudi women who are brave enough to file a complaint with police end up with no protection unless their immediate families can step into the breach, she said. "We need at least an institution that would teach Saudi women how to utter the word: No," said one woman, her face bearing physical scars of the abuse her husband meted out.

"We are powerless. What are our rights? The man is always right," she added bitterly. "Every time I was admitted to hospital, I refused to mention that I was beaten, because I do not want the police to know," not trusting them to keep her ordeal a secret.

Her ex-husband abused her frequently while drunk. In the end, her wealthy family helped her walk out of her 20-year marriage. But the same private financial and emotional support is not open to all Saudi women.

"I realized how much women suffer when I had to go to court (to settle divorce and custody matters)," she said. "I saw old fathers who have been dragged with their (married) daughters to courts, some for over 10 years, in order to obtain a pending divorce," while their husbands failed to show up and ignored the case completely, she added.

A major hurdle in combating domestic violence is a prevailing belief in Saudi Arabia that beating a woman is "not socially shameful", said Faraj. "As social workers, we face accusations of encouraging women to seek divorce."

But television presenter Rania al Baz, whose husband beat her face to a pulp in April, brought the issue to the forefront of national debate, at least temporarily. "There was a chance then to capitalize on the outrage resulting from the incident, to call for establishing policies that would protect women. Nothing happened however," Faraj lamented. Rania's husband has refused to divorce her except through the court.