Leaders call for reform on Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women
Rivlin emphasized the need for legislation, law enforcement, education, public information and welfare services to help women who are victims of violence, as well as men who are violent.
By GREER FAY CASHMANACTIVISTS PROTEST against recent cases of violence against women at Habima Square in Tel Aviv last week.(photo credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)
Incredible stories of physical, mental, emotional and economic abuse were relayed on Wednesday on radio and television, as well as in the presence of both President Reuven Rivlin, who hosted an event recognizing the courage of two women who demonstrated bravery in the face of violence, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited a WIZO shelter for battered wives and children.Rivlin last month visited a similar facility run by Na’amat.At the event hosted by the president, in addition to the awards, the various speakers mentioned incidents of violence in all strata of society and also spoke of how some people took immediate action to rescue victims of violence.One such case involved an Arab construction worker by the name of Mahmoud, who heard a woman screaming from an upstairs apartment and rushed to investigate. He saw that she was being violently attacked, and managed to fend off the assailant and call for paramedics. The woman was seriously injured, and, while waiting for the paramedics, Mahmoud held her hand and kept talking to her so that she would not lose consciousness.Rivlin, Social Equality Minister Merav Cohen and Eva Madjiboj, director of the Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, all spoke of the urgent need for society to take responsibility and intervene when there is evidence of violence.Rivlin made the point that violence is not just the punch of a fist. Violence exists in the power of words to humiliate and ridicule. Violence is manipulation, shouting and whispered insults, he said, adding that violence can also be perceived in the limiting of women’s freedom of choice, and their ability to manage their money and their lives as they see fit.Rivlin emphasized the need for legislation, law enforcement, education, public information and welfare services to help women who are victims of violence, as well as men who are violent.The event was streamed live on Facebook, and among the comments from members of the public was one that legislation already exists, but is not implemented.In speaking of the above-mentioned needs, Rivlin also voiced a political message, saying that the state budget must be passed in order to activate a national plan for fighting violence against women.“This should be done as quickly as possible,” he insisted.Cohen said that when she first came into office, she had made giving attention to domestic violence a priority, and revealed that she has been shocked by some of the stories she heard from victims, especially those from the more educated sectors of society.It is the government’s responsibility, she declared, to ensure the safety and security of its citizens and residents, not just on the country’s national borders and in public areas, but in their homes.Madjiboj defined a healthy society as one that seeks to eliminate violence against women and does not turn a blind eye.Adi Guzi from Mitzpe Ramon was responsible for saving the life of Shira Isakov, whose husband, Aviad Moshe, stabbed her repeatedly in front of their infant son even as she begged him to put the baby in another room. Guzi heard Isakov’s cries and went to her aid.Shiri Mandelbaum, a social worker who spent time with the late Anastasia Klein during her hospitalization following her brutal rape and assault, became suspicious when Klein’s partner, Dmitri Tzignok, showed up at the hospital, and managed to prevent him from murdering her. Unfortunately, she died of her injuries anyway.Guzi and Mandelbaum received citations from Rivlin and Cohen.Isakov, who has left the hospital and is recuperating in the bosom of her family, wanted to inoculate her child, but the law does not allow this without the father’s consent. The father is currently in prison for trying to kill the mother.
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