Abdo Khal

Okaz

Girls running away from their homes represent a serious problem that has not yet been fully addressed by society.



There may be a number of reasons for this phenomenon. These include the disintegration of the family as a result of psychological disturbances of a drug-addict father. The lack of a role model in the family may also be one of the reasons.



However, there are other more complex reasons, including abject poverty in the family. A girl may feel frustrated because her family is poor and cannot provide her with all her needs. Our society has become a consumer one and the girls may want to satisfy their desire for consumer goods.



The youth have priorities, which may be secondary to us but for them they are significant. They want to preserve their ostentatious appearances so they will look for money by all means.



Girls are keener about their appearances. They want to be modern and fashionable like the ones they often see on TV. A girl may watch talk shows focusing on the usurped rights of women. She may also see commercials showing the latest fashion trends and cosmetic products. She will feel frustrated and deprived. She will then start thinking of leaving the family and escaping away from home.



The family's lack of understanding about the basic needs of girls makes them feel inferior. When a girl speaks to her girl friends about her problems the latter may usually demonstrate her frustration and encourage her out of her suffocating environment.



There are many reasons for girls escaping from homes, which their father or the male guardian may not be aware of, but there are no ready-made solutions to this problem. We are used to a single solution, which is arresting the escapee and returning her to the family without studying the reasons why she escaped from her home in the first place. The girl may be sent to jail or may go around looking for shelter. She may look for someone willing to hide her of course at a cost, which may sometimes be physical.



We should not look for such girls to punish them but rather to resolve their issues. We should look deeply at the reasons that caused her to escape from home and try to resolve them socially, financially and psychologically.



We should raise funds for the study, treatment and close followup of the problem of girls fleeing from their homes.



A portion of money should be deducted from the budgets of the ministries of social affairs, health, education, the General Presidency for Youth Welfare, the Directorate General of Prisons and the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice to fund the study and followup of the issue.



I hope that this initiative will be considered seriously by all concerned departments so as to put an end to the phenomenon of girls escaping from their families.