Woman slain in Acre amid national outrage over domestic violence

A woman found stabbed in her home in the northern city of Acre died as emergency services tried to save her life Tuesday.

Emergency workers who arrived at an apartment in the coastal city found 29-year-old Iman Ahmed Awad with her throat slit.

Police opened an investigation into the death. Awad’s husband was detained and taken for questioning, but the Ynet news website reported that he was not immediately regarded as a suspect. Police had no knowledge of any previous violence between the two, Channel 10 news said.

If ruled a domestic violence incident, the killing would bring the number of women murdered in such cases this year to 25, the highest toll in years, amid national protests for more action to combat the phenomenon.

Responding to the killing, the Israel Women’s Network rights group demanded immediate action and criticized the government for failing to implement steps or allocate funds to fight women’s murders.

“Our blood isn’t cheap and the safety of 51 percent of the population can’t continue to be a low priority,” the group said in a statement.

Last week thousands of women went on strike and tens of thousands rallied across the country to protest women killed by a partner, family member, or someone known to them, and what they say is the authorities’ failure to stem a sharp increase in violence against women.

The organizers of the protest said Tuesday they would implement “daily steps that can’t be ignored” until their demands from the government are met.

“The government stayed silent and this afternoon another woman was murdered,” the organizers said. “Starting tomorrow, every day at 10 a.m., we [women] all stop everything for 25 minutes! Every day, we stop on the roads, stop work, stop in the street. Until the government heeds our demands.”

A day after the protests Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he considers violence against women a form of terrorism and vowed to allocate funds to fight it.

The protests capped a week of smaller demonstrations prompted after two teen girls were found murdered on November 26.

Yara Ayoub, 16, was found dead in her Galilee hometown of Jish, six days after she went missing, according to police. Authorities have identified the primary suspect in the murder as a 28-year-old man from the village, and have arrested several others suspected of involvement.

Hours later, Sylvana Tsegai, 13, was found murdered in her Tel Aviv home, allegedly by her mother’s former partner Tesfebarhan Tesfasion, who evaded police for several days before being caught. Police reportedly suspect she was also sexually assaulted. According to reports, Tsegai had been known to welfare authorities as a victim of domestic violence. She reportedly called police on Saturday to complain about Tesfasion being in her home.