When the civil rights of women are curtailed, violence towards women increases - not just violence in society generally but also in the home. It's not hard to justify violence towards a person when society tells you that they have a second-class status and are inferior to you. That's what happens in Islamic society - even when the women are professionals in their own right.

The BBC reports on Rania al-Baz, a Saudi TV presenter who was allegedly beaten badly by her husband:

Rania al-Baz said her husband, Mohammed al-Fallatta, beat her so hard earlier this week that he broke her nose and fractured her face in 13 places. ... Ms Baz's mother told Saudi media that Mr Fallatta beat her daughter regularly. ... "I want to use what happened to me to draw attention to the plight of women in Saudi Arabia," Ms Baz said. Every morning for the past six years, Ms Baz has been the smiling face of a family programme on Saudi television. She is well-known and loved in the kingdom.

It is a deeply conservative society, where Islamic Sharia law is strictly enforced and where honour and appearances are hugely important. The presence of problems such as domestic violence, rape, paedophilia or Aids is often simply not acknowledged our correspondent adds.

Apparently, no other case of domestic violence has received as much attention as this one - and because al-Baz is a well-known and much-admired figure, her plight may do a lot to raise awareness of what Saudi women are forced to endure in silence. They aren't allowed to vote or to drive - if this were the situation of a racial or ethnic minority, most of the world would regard it as intolerable. But because women are suffering and it is a Muslim state, no government speaks out agianst it.

Read More:

• Recent Books on Islam
• Islam
• Wahhabi Islam
• Religion in Saudi Arabia