End Violence against Palestinian Women in Israel

Dear Friends,

We want to thank you for continuing to support Kayan - Feminist Organization and to update you about the work we have been doing to support ending violence against Palestinian women in Israel.

The first half of 2021 was marked by the political challenges facing our region, which included a wave of violence, whereas the second half was marked by a steadily increasing number of women reaching out for emotional and legal support via our hotline. Beyond the total of 1792 reciprocal contacts in 2021, we have assisted 208 women on GBV and SGBV. Of these calls, the majority were related to SGBV: 107 women had been sexually harassed or assaulted; 101 women of the women reaching out were facing some type of violence, including domestic violence. As a result of an increase in calls to our hotline, Kayan continued the expanding of its opening hours and text access, as well as increased creative advertising through flyers, press releases, and raising community awareness through local women's groups. We make sure that every single woman who reaches us through the hotline understands their rights and options for taking action to change their situation, including legal tools when appropriate. In 2021, altogether 118 women who took legal action after contacting Kayan for legal assistance, including turning to the police or court system, or accessing free legal services provided by the state. We also helped over 20 percent of them to receive governmental social services. We continue to perform active follow-up with all open cases for as long as necessary.

In the second half of the year, our annual 16 Days Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign (25 November - 10 December) played a significant role. Arab Palestinian women face a huge amount of violence as women in a patriarchal society, and as an oppressed minority in Israel. The theme of this years’ campaign is how masculinity is a root cause of SGBV, and how social scripts dictate all of our behaviour. This year’s launch event symbolised the theme through the wearing of masks over the whole face, and also through glasses cleaners with feminist slogans on them, symbolizing clearing your vision to witness how the patriarchy causes SGBV and other harm towards women.

The 16 Days campaign took place across 13 Arab cities and towns in Israel in accordance with Covid-19 restrictions. Over 33 collective actions were involved in the campaign, making our voices heard. There have been marches, workshops, art activities, discussion groups, and youth workshops in community centers and schools with 1848 participants. We have also been publishing information and photos on social media, including feminist infographics challenging patriarchal norms such as SGBV, and the focus on marriage as a measure of women’s worth.

All of this comes alongside Kayan’s ongoing work to combat the phenomenon of femicide of Arab Palestinian women in Israel. This work is a continuation of the femicide research we described in our last two reports.The Israeli Ministry of Justice recently released information about 18 femicide cases involving 17 women; this was a direct result of Kayan’s Freedom of Information request and pressure we applied to the Israeli police to release this information. We do this for the sake of transparency and accountability in the legal system. The information revealed that these cases involved very few indictments and that plea bargains lowering the severity of the charges were cut between the perpetrator and the police. Every time a new femicide occurs, Kayan keeps documenting the case to ensure that data is accurately captured for advocacy and research purposes. On a case-by-case basis, Kayan also provides legal and emotional support for families of murdered Palestinian women. For example, Kayan has been assisting the family of a woman, who was murdered in Arrabeh in November 2020 by her husband, through the difficult process of participating in the court hearing of her murderer. In addition to providing intensive support and legal consultation to her family, Kayan also organized a protest at the Haifa District Court on the first anniversary of her murder. Many people joined to express solidarity with the victim's family and to pressure the court for a transparent and fair judicial process that brings full justice to women facing domestic violence. Kayan also continues to publish the image, name and story of each Palestinian victim of femicide in Israel. This is to show respect to those victims and to put the issue on the public agenda in a way which cannot be ignored.

We have also been continued engaging with work against SGBV on an international level. The EuroMed Rights Network General Assembly (GA), recently approved Kayan's membership in the network and its committees. This decision reflects an acknowledgement of Kayan’s achievements and its role at the local and international levels, and in recognition of the credibility of Kayan’s work as a professional women's rights organization. Kayan is pleased to represent EuroMed Rights Network in the committee for SGBV and in the committee for Palestinian issues. In fall, Kayan’s director Rafah Anabtawi was a panel speaker at an online event where the regulation of women and girls’ dress codes was be discussed. This event was part of a feminist discussion series hosted by the Asfari Institute. A wide range of women speakers from the MENA region addressed the subject of control and dress code and the boundaries of “acceptability”.  

We want to thank you so much for all your support and partnership in ending violence against Palestinian women in Israel, we are very grateful for the ongoing support and friendship. In the meantime, we sincerely hope that you and your families are staying well in this difficult time. We sincerely appreciate your support. 

Gratefully, 

The Kayan’s Team

Links:

• Kayan's January Newsletter
• Kayan's website
• Kayan's Facebook page