Israeli women came together in a nation-wide strike to protest against domestic violence, which has resulted in the deaths of over 20 women in 2018.
Strikes broke out post the killings of two young women in Israel last week bringing the total number of female deaths due to domestic violence to twenty-four. Israeli women across the country took to the streets this week, blocking the roads and observing a moment of silence for the women and girls who lost their lives.
The protesters’ demands included stricter policies to safeguard women against domestic violence and greater state funds to combat the problem. Women partnered with Israeli footwear retailers and covered the streets with women’s shoes dipped in red paint symbolising the blood of the victims. They chanted, “Bibi, wake up, our blood is not cheap” outside the Jerusalem entrance urging the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take action.
A similar protest broke out in 2017 when Israeli Bedouin Protesters claimed that the police and welfare authorities had failed to protect the women against domestic violence. Protestors asserted that there was a lack of seriousness in addressing the matter and called the inaction ‘a conspiracy of silence’.
Last Sunday, the Prime Minister Netanyahu announced the establishment of a government body to deal with domestic violence against women. The PM will be heading the committee. He said, “We will convene the committee time after time to bring a better future and hope for these women”. The opposition, however, has critiqued the government’s inability to fund the current programs available for women’s welfare.
Tens of thousands of women were reported to gather at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on Tuesday evening.
