In year of war, rise in domestic violence complaints seen

More complaints about domestic violence were filed by Israelis this year, a report released Tuesday showed, with some blaming the uptick on increased tensions surrounding the summer’s war with Hamas.

The study, published to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, also showed that the number of women murdered by their spouses dipped.

The Knesset held a special session to mark the day, during which Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said that despite the well-developed legal measures implemented to prevent violence against women, a tacit cultural tolerance for the phenomenon fosters further attacks.

According to a report by the Women’s International Zionist Organization for Improved Israeli Society, commonly known as WIZO, some 65 domestic violence complaints are filed with police every day. Through October 30, police received some 18,912 complaints of family violence (65% by women) in 2014, and expect the number of complaints to rise to 23,000 by the end of December.

The figures are up from 17,444 complaints at this time in 2013.

The majority of women who do file complaints do not pursue further legal action, the report said.

The study maintained that most domestic violence victims do not step forward to file complaints, with welfare officials cited in the findings estimating that there are some 200,000 battered women living in Israel, and 600,000 children witness to the violence.

Moreover, only one percent of the men who beat their wives have come to the public domestic violence prevention centers to receive psychological treatment, the report said, the remaining 99% opting instead to “stay in the shadows.”

Meanwhile, 11,216 victims of family violence were treated in shelters and by social services around the country in the past year, including 7,286 women, 2,951 men and 875 children. The identification of abused women at baby wellness clinics spiked by 200% in the past year, with some 1,020 post-birth women found with marks of violence on them by the medical staff.

Ten women were killed by their partners in 2014, as compared to 19 a year earlier.

In the Knesset session on Tuesday, Edelstein decried the continued violence, and said legal measures were insufficient.

“Although the legislation against sex crimes in Israel is extensive and progressive, unfortunately there is an atmosphere that, intolerably, sprouts harassment and violence against women,” he said.

“So long as the the basic notion, which goes without saying, that violence is a red line, that harming and taking advantage of women is morally wrong and a social crime seeps in — no law for equal rights, work opportunities or for the prevention of sexual harassment will help.”

During the summer’s 50-day conflict, police in southern Israel reported a dramatic spike in the number of domestic violence complaints.

According to a Channel 2 report, police attributed the uptick “by dozens of percent” of incidents to the high-stress environment and the sustained amount of time the couples spent in fortified rooms. The majority of incidents were first-time occurrences of violence between the couples, police said, adding that they would nonetheless be treated with the utmost severity, with indictments and restraining orders issued against the culprits.

According to Haaretz, the family violence hotline in southern Israel received 60% more calls during July 2014 than a month earlier, a 37% increase as compared to July 2013.