שתיל - שירותי תמיכה וייעוץ לקידום שינוי חברתי

SHATIL's Yachdav (Together) Ethiopian Women's Coalition to Address Domestic Violence has had tremendous impact on the field. Since the Coalition began its work, the numbers of Ethiopian women killed by their husbands has dropped from six in 2006 to three in 2007 and none - until last week - in 2008.

A tragic irony occurred just after the New Israel Fund's Chanukah greeting, extolling as a miracle that for the first time in 10 years no Ethiopian woman had been murdered by her husband this year, went out. To our great sorrow, on December 22, Jamra Ananei, a mother of six, was murdered by her husband, making her the first such woman this year from the Ethiopian community. As is common in such cases, he then committed suicide. Yachdav has been working tirelessly for the past two years to educate the Ethiopian community toward prevention and to get the government involved in prevention and treatment efforts. Ethiopian women throughout the country are far more aware of the signs of abuse, of their rights and of where to turn for help. In fact, Ananei did turn for help, but just two hours after she met with a social worker, her husband attacked her in a public park.

"In examining the background of this tragic event, we discovered that while the family lived in the Mevasseret Zion Absorption Center up until several months ago, Ananei's husband tried to kill himself," said Shulamit Sahalo, Yachdav coordinator. "We believe that if the man had received proper treatment at the time, the tragedy could have been prevented. Today, the Jewish Agency understands this and addresses these problems professionally, based on research and with an orderly work plan.

"Ethiopian immigrants arrive in Israel with heavy emotional baggage as a result of a lack of attention and treatment in the transit camps in Ethiopia," Sahalo continued. "If appropriate treatment and attention are not given in the absorption centers in Israel, immigrants move to permanent housing without proper emotional support. This can to difficult events such as this. The policy of the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Absorption must include intensive treatment for every Ethiopian immigrant so that violence will not erupt later, when the immigrants are living independently in the community."

Although we are filled with sorrow at Ananei's death, we applaud the magnificent work the Coalition is doing to address the underlying issues that result in these tragic murders. We hope that in 2009, a lack of such violence will no longer be considered a miracle.