Guard dogs reduce violent threats against battered women by 70%, Israeli study finds

In 2021, near the end of the one-year jail term for Batya’s former husband — who was serving time for violence against her — she started counting the minutes until he’d be released. She was terrified that he would make good on his threat to kill her.

Then Batya (not her real name) heard about the Canines Program at the Michal Sela Forum. This initiative, from a nonprofit organization dedicated to combating domestic violence, gifts threatened women with guard dogs for protection.

She contacted the group, and two years ago, Batya received Bamba, a Malinois guard dog that lives with her and her three daughters.

“I’m still afraid that my ex might appear by surprise and attack me at any moment, but having the dog with us lessens the fear,” Batya told The Times of Israel by telephone.

The nine women, including Batya, who received dogs from the Forum reported an average 70% reduction in threats from their ex-partner, according to a study released in September by Mashav Applied Research and supervised by the Chief Scientist of the National Security Ministry.

Since the war began on October 7, 2023 — when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and kidnapping 251 into Gaza — there has been a 65% increase in reports of domestic violence in Israel.

In 2024, 20 women were killed, according to a report released by Prof. Shalva Weil, founder of the Israel Observatory on Femicide under the auspices of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Monday.

According to the report, 11 of those were murdered by their husbands or intimate partners.

The Mashav study found that a dog’s presence increased women’s feelings of security, personal safety, freedom, and control by 73%. Moreover, the women reported a 620% increase in social activities, such as trips and social gatherings, for their children.

The Michal Sela Forum Canines Program

The Forum’s dog program, begun in June 2020, is the only one of its kind in Israel. To qualify, a woman must be recognized by the Welfare Ministry or the police as someone whose life is at risk from her partner who is no longer living in the same house.

The dog is given to each woman free of charge for the dog’s whole life, serving as a service dog for an average of seven years.

According to a spokesperson, the Forum spent a year developing and building the canines program in collaboration with dog-training experts (including former members of the IDF’s canine unit), domestic violence specialists, legal experts, and insurance professionals.

Batya said she went through a three-month training program to determine whether she and her family were suitable for a dog after she requested one.

“There are three girls in my house, so there’s a lot of emotion, volume, and energy,” Batya said.

When she got Bamba, she said, “he began walking around with me, right next to me, as if he’s always walked with me.”

She receives dog food each month and veterinarian visits, all free.

Bamba sleeps with her daughters in their bedroom.

“I don’t know where my ex-husband is, which puts me under more pressure, but it’s easier to sleep at night,” Batya said.

Sayeret Michal

In addition to the canine program, the Forum also developed Sayeret Michal (a play on the name of an IDF commando unit, Sayeret Matkal) in October 2021, in collaboration with former Shin Bet operatives, leading security companies, domestic violence experts, and legal professionals.

Sayeret Michal provides threatened women with a private security company that installs cameras in and around the women’s house, an emergency button, and a private security patrol. The program also offers the women self-defense lessons and a deterrence letter from a law firm sent to the threatening party.

The protection program is provided for 12 months and turns the threatened woman’s home “into her fortress,” said a Forum spokesperson.

According to the recent Mashav study, after six months under Sayeret Michal’s protection, 107 women reported an 800% increase in their sense of security in their homes.

The women also reported that incidents of all forms of violence decreased, including a 62% reduction in incidents of physical violence by the partner and his family and a 25% reduction in verbal violence.

“Before I joined Sayaret Michal, I felt I had to hide,” said a woman who called herself D. “My life was one big nightmare. The emergency button completely changed my life. It is with me 24/7, even while I sleep.”

Both of the Forum’s programs have served over 414 threatened women and some 1,399 children.

The average monthly cost per threatened woman in the Canines program is NIS 1,336 ($361), which is less than 6% of the cost of a month’s stay at a women’s shelter. The Sayeret Michal program costs NIS 310 ($83) per month, which is 1.3% of the monthly cost of a women’s shelter.

In memory of Michal Sela

The Michal Sela Forum was founded in 2020 by Lili Ben Ami after her sister, Michal Sela, was stabbed to death by her husband Eliran Malul in front of their 8-month-old daughter in 2019. Malul was sentenced to life in prison in 2021.

Batya said that when she had heard about Michal Sela’s murder, “a little voice” inside her said, “‘You’re going to be next.'” Six months later, she said, she found the courage to leave her husband.

Ben Ami, who serves as the Forum’s CEO, said she aims to prevent the next femicide by developing innovative programs and tools with tech executives, counterterrorism experts, and government leaders. On its website, the organization lists warning signs for people who might be in abusive relationships, as well as tips for family and friends on when it’s time to intervene. The organization hopes to help found 100 startups by 2030 to help prevent domestic violence and femicide.

The recent research on the canines program and Sayeret Michal is “unequivocal proof that domestic violence can be defeated and murders can be prevented,” Ben Ami said.

At odds with the National Security Ministry

Last February, National Security Ministry Itamar Ben Gvir stopped funding the Forum, claiming in an interview with 103 FM radio that the organization’s staff wants “the money, not for the women, but to line their own pockets.”

Ben Ami categorically denied the claim.

She told The Times of Israel that the Forum “is conducted responsibly and honestly in every aspect, especially in financial matters, and has even received a Midot seal of effectiveness after an external audit.”

The budget, she said, is intended “solely for the benefit of threatened women.”

The Forum receives private contributions for its work. A month after Ben Gvir ceased funding the program, Welfare Minister Ya’akov Margi pledged about NIS 2 million to support it, saying that fighting domestic violence “requires original and creative thinking.”

Meanwhile, Batya said that “the dog protects us and strengthens us.”

“I can’t describe the confidence we now have since he’s in the house,” she said.