The past two years have seen an uptick in the number of restraining orders issued to protect victims of domestic violence, as well as a corresponding number of abusers violating those orders, Israel Police data indicate.
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The years 2020-2021 saw a 16% increase in the number of complaints filed with the police over violations of domestic violence restraining orders. One expert argued that victims "think twice" before complaining due to fear that the restraining orders won't actually protect them, and could actually increase the risk of the abuser harming them."
According to data obtained by Israel Hayom, 2020 saw a record number of violations of protection orders issued in domestic violence cases, with police handling an average of 13 such incidents per day. The number of reported violations remained high in 2021 when compared to the number reported prior to the COVID pandemic.
According to attorney Netanel Oved, who is in charge of the family law department at the Arbus Kedem Tzur law firm, "COVID led to a situation in which families were shut inside and households suffered financially, and when you add a violent partner, it's a recipe for increased violence against family members. These numbers should be a red light for judges and police commanders, who unfortunately often feel that they have done their job by issuing restraining orders for violent partners or fathers . But in many cases, they didn't do what they needed to.
"It's important to understand that these data are only the tip of the iceberg. Many victims of domestic violence don't even file complaints because they fear that the attacker's response will be lethal, and the ones who do gather up the courage to complain aren't really protected. We need to give the courts or the police additional tools to enforce restraining orders, or offer alternatives so that we can protect the victims," Oved said.
The attorney also pointed out that many cases of violations of restraining orders were not reported to the police.
"The painful conclusion is that protection orders don't really supply the protection they are supposed to. The solution must come in the form of increased enforcement and adjustments to existing laws, so that domestic violence law will have more teeth and be able to achieve what they were originally intended to," Oved said.
The police data also indicated that of the approximately 150,000 domestic violence cases handled by the police in the past four years, some 115,000 have already been shelved or are in the process of being closed. Meanwhile, only 13% of the cases opened in 2018-2019 ended with a court ruling, and in 2020, only 9% of cases open resulted in a court ruling.
The data obtained by Israel Hayom show that seven out of 10 victims of domestic violence in Israel are women or minors.
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