Twenty-five Israeli women have been killed by a spouse or a relative in 2020, a grim report by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem revealed Sunday.
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The report categorized 21 of the 25 murders as femicides – a gender-based hate crime term broadly defined as "the intentional killing of women or girls because they are female" – while the rest were homicides.
March 2020, the month the coronavirus pandemic erupted in Israel in full force, was the deadliest for women, claiming five victims.
March was also the first month during which the government imposed a nationwide lockdown as part of the efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
According to data released by the Welfare Ministry, Israel has seen a spike in domestic violence since the pandemic erupted and restrictions on public life were first put in place.
The report by the Hebrew University found that the oldest of the 25 victims was 39 and the youngest just 19.
Twelve of the femicide victims in 2020 were Arab Israeli, and six of them were Bedouin. One victim was Ethiopian Israeli and four were immigrants from former Soviet Union countries
In 17 of the 18 cases where police had a suspect in custody immediately, the killer was a male relative, and in 13 cases it was the victim's spouse.
The report also looked at the weapons used in the murders. Of the 20 cases where the information was available, seven women were murdered by sharp objects, six were shot to death, two died as a result of blunt force trauma, two were strangled, two were beaten to death, and one victim was thrown to her death.
Authorities have received previous complaints about domestic violence in only seven of the cases, the report said. So far, only seven indictments have been filed on these murders.
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