- Some 40,000 women were treated at the countries' emergency
wards this year as a result of violence in the home, the Knesset Committee
for the Advancement of Women was told Tuesday.
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- Health Minister Dan Naveh, who also heads the ministry's
sub-committee on the prevention of violence, told the Knesset panel that
"some 40,000 women came to hospital emergency rooms this year as a
result of domestic violence, out of which 15,000 women were hospitalized."
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- The meeting was called Tuesday to mark the International
Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
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- Naveh also told the committee that emergency room workers
are now told to look for the reasons for a woman's hospitalization, and
that together with the State Prosecution and the Public Security Ministry,
the Health Ministry was now implementing a project to identify women at
risk from domestic violence. Doctors and nurses have been ordered to get
to the root of any bruising or injuries suffered by a woman.
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- Some 3,000 women who sought treatment at hospitals and
health maintenance organization clinics were identified as victims of domestic
violence - double the number identified four years ago. This improvement
in identifying victims of domestic violence is thanks to the ministry's
project.
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- This number is still low compared to the number of women
who are believed to be victims of violence. One of the reasons for this
low number is that the issue is still seen as a matter for the welfare
services and many doctors still prefer to turn their heads and ignore possible
signs of violence.
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- State Prosecutor Edna Arbel told the committee, "It
is no secret that the issue of violence on the whole and against women
in particular is a central issue in our work and we believe that it must
be raised to the top of the agenda, every day and every hour and not just
when a woman is murdered."
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- Arbel said that of the 170 murder cases in 2003, 12 women
had been murdered by their partners and two men by their partners. She
added that Israeli society had become violent and cruel. Arbel welcomed
the more severe sentences for the perpetrators of domestic violence now
being handed down by the courts, which sometimes reach 28 or 30 years imprisonment.
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- Figures from the Knesset information center show that
from January to September 2003, over 21,000 people turned to shelters for
help, of which 5,063 were first-time drop-ins. A total of 90 percent of
those seeking help were women.
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- Figures from the Prisons Service show that some 570 prisoners
are serving time for rape while some 320 are in for other sex crimes. Police
figures show that 256 cases of rape and sexual assault were opened last
year against a male partner.
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- Committee chair MK Gila Gamliel (Likud) said that the
high number of women murdered this year by their partners should set off
warning bells and steps must be taken to curb such crimes.
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- MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) said that contrary to Arbel's
claims that harsher sentences are now being handed down for domestic violence,
in most cases, courts hand down ridiculously light sentences, such as community
service or suspended sentences. She slammed the courts for essentially
implying that women are their spouses' property and can be beaten and hurt,
with their spouses facing punishment equal to a property crime.
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- The Knesset plenum also held a special session Tuesday
to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
with MKs condemning both physical and verbal violence against women. The
lawmakers also declared it a national goal to battle against violence toward
women and domestic violence.
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- The Knesset called on the courts and education system
to deal with the roots of the problem, while also demanding additional
funds to battle violence toward women.
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- According to a survey carried out two years ago, around
214,000 woman (11.2 percent of the female population) has suffered physical
violence at the hands of their partners at some point in their lives. Around
142,000 (or 5.8 percent of women) had suffered physical violence in the
year preceding the survey.
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- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/365048.html
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