Israel: Information on the legislative remedies available to protect women who are battered by their spouses, and the procedure a woman would follow to charge her spouse with assault
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 April 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ISR13779 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Israel: Information on the legislative remedies available to protect women who are battered by their spouses, and the procedure a woman would follow to charge her spouse with assault, 1 April 1993, ISR13779, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab673c.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to the legal advisor with the Israel Women's Network, an organization working to improve the status of women in Israel, and to the chair of the status of women department of Na'amat, the largest women's organization in Israel, a woman subjected to physical abuse in the home, can go to court to get an immediate temporary injunction to have an abusive spouse removed from the home (27 Apr. 1993). This temporary measure can be valid for up to one week, after which time the court can have the spouse removed for a further period of up to 3 months (Ibid.). This temporary measure can apply to any case of family violence, not just to husbands. The measure, known as the Law on the Prevention of Family Violence, was passed in June 1991 (Ibid.).
The legal advisor with the Israel Women's Network added that further protection must be obtained through the court system, under tort or criminal law (27 Apr. 1993). A woman can sue her spouse through the civil courts, and claims such as assault and rape are pursued by the district attorney (Ibid.).
The legal advisor stated that there are two problems with the Law on the Prevention of Family Violence: first, it only covers physical abuse and not psychological abuse, and although a threat of abuse is covered by the law, the courts have been reluctant to rule on this kind of abuse; and second, although the police are sympathetic to claims of abuse and take these matters seriously, they cannot provide 24-hour surveillance of a woman's residence to ensure the spouse does not disobey a court injunction (Ibid.). The legal advisor has heard of two cases where a husband disobeyed an injunction, returned to the home and killed the wife (Ibid.).
The legal advisor said that in order for a woman to charge her husband with assault, she would go to the police, file a complaint and then the police and district attorney would take over and pursue the case (Ibid.). The legal advisor and the Na'amat representative both stated that there are many organizations, in addition to their own, that assist women who have been victims of violence, including shelters and counselling centres (27 Apr. 1993).
Additional or corroborative information on the above topic is currently unavailable to the DIRB.
References
Israel Women's Network, Jerusalem. 27 April 1993. Telephone interview with legal representative.
Na'amat, Tel Aviv. 27 April 1993. Telephone interview with the chair of the status of women department.