The following terms – wherever mentioned in this Regulation – shall have the meanings assigned thereto, unless the context

Ministry: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development

Minister: Minister of Human Resources and Social Development

Law: Law of Protection from Abuse.

Regulation: Executive Regulation of the Law of Protection from Abuse.

Physical Abuse: Every intentional act carried out through the use of physical force, or any act that results in physical injury or

bodily harm, such as beating, wounding, punching, biting, burning, throwing incendiary, caustic, or disfiguring materials, or

any similar act whose purpose is to inflict a certain degree of pain or harm, regardless of how mild their intensity may be.

Sexual Abuse: Any act or saying that exposes a person to unlawful sexual exploitation by any means, even if only once,

including exposing the victim to pornographic or immoral materials or sexual behavior.

Psychological Abuse: Any act or abstention from action that leads to psychological harm, resulting in psychological,

emotional, or mental pain, such as intimidation, threats, exploitation, humilation, insults, isolation from family and friends,

mockery, intimidation, unreasonable demands, or arbitrary deprivation of rights and freedoms, along with all forms of

interaction that always involve harm.

Exploitation: Taking advantage of a person's nature, ignorance, or inability to gain a right or make an unfair profit.

Dependency: Financial support of one person to another because of family relationship, and looking after his affairs.

Negligence: Any act or abstention from action, that in itself leads to direct, or indirect harm to the victim.

Living dependency: A situation in which a person is dependent on another person, for his livelihood and basic needs.

Basic needs of a person: Minimum fundamental requirements for a Person’s life necessary, to fulfil his basic material and

psychological needs.

Power: A legitimate or regulatory relationship, through which a person has the right to impose their will on another person,

based on their powers of guidance or familial supervision.

Family relationship: A social moral bond between people based on a family basis between husband and wife, children,

grandparents, and grandchildren, and includes relatives by blood or by marriage.

Sponsorship: Person securing some or all basic needs of another person, tied to him with family relationship. This includes

cases sponsored by foster families,and the third sector supervised by the Ministry.

Responsibility: A situation in which a person is legally or legitimately responsible for the consequences of the actions of

another person, based on the family relationship.

Competent Authorities: Relevant authorities from the governmental sector, private sector, and the third sector.

Social Protection Homes: Homes designated to provide shelter for victims of domestic violence, whether affiliated with the

Ministry, or the third sector supervised by the Ministry.

Multidisciplinary Team: Multidisciplinary Team: A team working at the protection center and social protection home,

consists of a minimum of specialists in the following specialties:

(Social - Psychological - Health - Legal).

Protection Centers: Administrative and field centers for processing reports of protection from abuse, and providing an

integrated service to victims and aggressors.

Reports Center: A center for receiving domestic violence reports about cases of abuse, across the Kingdom.

Personal property: Any movable property owned by a person inside the home, whether money, identification papers, or

personal needs that are necessary for daily life.

index for measuring the severity of the report: The severity of the report is classified into (low, medium, critical), and the

measurement index is determined based on the report prepared by the Reports Center.

Guardianship: Power that allows others to supervise the minor, represent him, and take care of everything related to his

money.

To fulfill the objectives set forth by the law, the Ministry shall:

1. Conduct social and psychological research for abused cases, engage the case in rehabilitation programs, and empower

in a manner that guarantees assist the case to settle down, and adapt to their family or social conditions.

2. Follow up and supervise social protection homes, to ensures satisfactory protection for the abused cases , and develop

empowering programs in preparation for returning the cases to their famililes.

3. Coordinate with the competent authorities to ensure the provision of shelter, assistance, and moral, psychological,

social, health, and security services to the case that has been subjected to abuse.

4. In order to reduce abuse, the Ministry shall propose appropriate preventive measures to protect against abuse, and

spreads awareness among members of society about the concept of abuse, and its effects, in cooperation with the

competent authorities.

5. Coordinate with the competent authorities to establish mechanisms and procedures, for dealing with common cases.

1. Any person proven to be aware of a case of abuse, and did not report it, shall bear full liability to the competent

authorities.

2. Every employee - dealing with members of society - becomes aware of a case of abuse by virtue of his work, is obligated

to report it immediately to his employer.

3. All entities are obligated to inform the Ministry of any case of abuse, upon becoming aware of them or upon receiving a

report about them. However, if the abuse case requires urgent intervention, the entity must notify the security

authorities.

4. In the event that an employee reports a case of abuse, the workplace shall be liable for the consequences of reluctance

or failure to report the case in the appropriate time. Such liability extends to the natural persons, representing the named

employer at the time of occurrence of abuse. Being no longer its representatives at the time of accountability for any

reason whatsoever - shall not negate or mitigate their liability.

1. The Domestic Violence Report Center shall receive reports from all regions of the Kingdom about cases of abuse,

whether from individuals or relevant parties. It shall also document the report after confirming the identity of the person

reporting it if possible, list its attachments if any, and follow up the report with the Protection Center.

2. The Domestic Violence Report Center shall refer the report to the Protection Center affiliated with the area where the

reported case is located, so that it directly assumes its duties regarding the report and follows up on it according to the

instructions.

1. In all cases, the identity of the person reporting the case of abuse must be kept confidential, and not disclosed except

when needed, and after obtaining his written consent.

The following cases shall be excluded:

• a. If treating a case of abuse requires the necessity of disclosing the identity of the informant for substantial

  reasons. However, the center shall assess this through a multidisciplinary team, provided that this is within the

  strictest limits.

• b. A reasoned official request from the entity is received. Provided that the entity to which the disclosure is made

  is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of the informant identity and and shall not compromise in its

  disclosure. Anyone who violates this provision shall be held liable.

2. Anyone who has access - by virtue of his work - to information related to the reports is obligated to maintain the

confidentiality of the information he has access to, and shall not compromise in its disclosure.

1. Any person who reports a case of abuse is considered a bona fide individual, unless proven otherwise.

2. In the event of repeated receipt of incorrect reports, the Protection Center will refer the report to the security authorities

for submission to the Public Prosecution to take the necessary legal measures. The aggrieved person may file a

complaint with the competent court and demand compensation.

After receiving the report of abuse, protection center shall undertake the following actions:

• 1. Deal Immediately with the report by communicating with the case, conducting a medical evaluation, in accordance with

  the mental health care law, and taking all necessary and appropriate measures to deal with the case.

• 2. In the case of abuse with a low severity classification, according to the severity index, the Family Protection Center may

  keep the case with his/her family, or in his/her home, while taking the necessary legal pledge from the abuser that

  ensures he/she refrains from inflicting any kind of abuse on the case, and his/her commitment to giving the case all

  legitimate rights, carry out all responsibilities and duties towards him/her, and bear full responsibility in the event of

  violating this. The Victim will be enabled to communicate with the Protection Center, and the Center’s specialists will

  also be enabled to contact him/her, and visit anytime to follow up the case whenever needed.

• 3. Providing family and social guidance, including those around the case,who need care through referral to the relevant

  entities according to the type of care required. In the event that that this entity rejects the case, the Ministry shall notify

  the governor.

• 4. If the Protection Center deems that the interest of the case requires only treating the case by providing psychological,

  family, and social guidance and counseling, or reconciliation between the parties to the case, then the Center must

  ensure that this procedure will not result in more severe harm to the case by, adopting the necessary means to maintain

  the case's safety. In the event of reconciliation, this must be documented via the Ministry of Justice’s reconciliation

  platform.

• 5. Subjecting the necessary parties to the case to psychological treatment or rehabilitation programs, that are appropriate

  for each case. If the case does not respond, the matter shall be referred to the governor to take the necessary action.

• 6. Enable the person who has been subjected to abuse, or his/her representative, to enter his/her residence, obtain his/her

  identification papers, and take his/her personal property, in the presence of the security authorities.

Taking into account what is stated in Articles 4 and 7 of this regulation, the protection center must, when dealing with a case

of abuse, consider the following rules:

• a. Take into account the interest of the case, in all measures taken to protect her/him from harm.

• b. Handle the case of abuse in accordance with the standards stipulated in Article 7 and 8 of the law, so that assistance or

  housing must be provided if necessary, in accordance with what is required by the type of abuse to which the case was

  exposed.

If the Protection Center deems that the incident of abuse constitutes a crime, or if the Center discovers, through processing

the case of abuse, that another crime has been committed or threatened against the case or those related to the case of

abuse, the security authorities must be notified to be referred to the Public Prosecution to take legal action against the

abuser.