Not enough shelters for battered women, NGO reports

Over a thousand abused women are turned away by shelters every year due to a shortage in facilities, an NGO said in a report published Sunday.

According to the No to Violence organization, which runs three shelters for abuse victims, 212 women turned to the organization for help this year but only 107 of them were taken in. In 2014, some 286 women asked for help and only 119 were taken in.

There are currently 14 shelters for battered women in Israel, No to Violence said in its report, and the number of women rejected due to lack of space throughout the country exceeds 1,000.

The NGO compared the number of shelters in Israel, relative to the size of the population, to ten Western countries and found its position to be at the bottom of the list.

In Canada the population is four times larger than Israel but there are 601 shelters for battered women — almost 43 times as many as in Israel.

Austria, with a population close to Israel’s, contains 30 shelters, more than double the number in Israel. Greece, with 11 million people, has 25 shelters. In the UK, 685 facilities give shelter to battered women in a country with 51 million inhabitants. Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Germany and Norway all have more shelters per capita and even Ireland, with a population less than half of Israel’s, has 21 shelters.

Yael Gold of No to Violence said that “without significantly increasing the support for establishing and operating shelters for battered women, the number of women being murdered or remaining inside the cycle of violence is expected to grow. The state must take responsibility and lead a significant change in the treatment of battered women.”

According to data published by Wizo, the Women’s International Zionist Organization, 17 women were murdered by members of their families over the past year, a 70 percent increase over the previous year.

Over the past 15 years some 300 women have been murdered by relatives. According to Israel Radio, 60 new cases of battery are opened every year. According to an assessment by official welfare authorities, the number of battered women in Israel reaches 200,000 and the number of children who experience violence in the home is 600,000.

The data published by the two NGOs was made available ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which will be marked around the world on November 25.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit one of WIZO’s shelters for battered women on Wednesday, when the day is marked around the world.