Na’amat to gov't: Establish body to fight domestic violence

Call comes following 2 murder-suicides perpetrated by husbands in one day.

By RUTH EGLASH
abuse_311 (photo credit: Courtesy (illustrative).)
abuse_311
(photo credit: Courtesy (illustrative).)
In light of two brutal domestic violence cases on Sunday – which left two women dead at the hands of their spouses, who both later committed suicide – Na’amat President Talia Livni called on the government Monday to set up a national authority dedicated exclusively to tackling the growing number of domestic abuse cases and violence against women.
“[Sunday’s] murders were not the result of cases falling through the cracks or of women not receiving assistance from the relevant services,” she observed, referring to the killing of Olga Mazur, stabbed by her husband at their home in Kiryat Ata, and, in a separate incident, the killing of Miri Klein, a social worker from Massad near Tiberias, who was shot by her estranged husband.
In both cases, the husbands had previously been reported to the authorities, and both had been subject to criminal proceedings.
“These cases illustrate the need for improving the process and for the creation of a single body to coordinate information between all those responsible for such issues,” said Livni. She also chided the way the media highlight such murders, and called on journalists to adopt a code of ethics similar to those used when covering suicide, a phenomenon that also prompts copycat acts.
According to statistics published Monday by the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services, 765 women and 1,097 children sought refuge in battered women’s shelters in 2010. In addition, some 11,000 men and women were given treatment in ministry-run centers specifically dealing with domestic violence; of these, 70 percent were women.
“Too many women lodge complaints against violent partners and their complaints are not adequately dealt with,” commented Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely, chairwoman of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women. “We must look much more closely at how we can save these women before they lose their lives.”
Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs Moshe Kahlon met Monday morning with social workers in Jerusalem and expressed regret at the two murders, particularly that of Klein, who worked in Tiberias with at-risk youth and children.
“I did not know her personally, but I have learned that she was a dedicated professional and a wonderful mother,” Kahlon said. “There is no forgiveness for this horrible and tragic murder.”