The Initiative to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence
A Cross-sector initiative to create systemic responses that will help reduce the phenomenon of violence in couple and marital relationships
The corona crisis, which started in Israel at the beginning of 2020, has raised the public awareness of the issue of gender-based violence. Although many government and social organizations are providing a wide range of services and solutions, it seems that the scale of the problem is not diminishing, and during periods of stress and tension, such as the lockdowns in the corona period, it even worsens.
About 20 women are murdered each year on the basis of gender. In Israel, there is considerable under-reporting of cases of domestic violence, and there is no systematic and continuous method for measuring the problem. Therefore, solutions are provided only to a small proportion of the victims. It is widely estimated that hundreds of thousands of women in Israel are victims of various types of violence: physical, mental, economic, sexual, legal and more. As a result, hundreds of thousands of children grow up exposed to domestic violence.
The initiative to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence (temporary name) was launched in January 2021, with the aim of creating an cross-sector network of partners that will work to address the problem, by setting strategic goals and implementing a coordinated action plan.
The initiative works according to the Collective Impact model – which deals systemically with complex social problems. According to the model, the solution to a systemic problem is not exclusively in the hands of one factor or sector, and it therefore requires a coordinated, cross-sector action.
The Sheatufim organization serves as a Backbone Organization of the initiative – a body that integrates the partnership and provides the professional and organizational infrastructure needed for its activities.
As part of the initiative’s planning stage and the set-up process, the ERI Research Institute was recruited for the purpose of supporting all aspects of research and data collection for the decision-making processes in the initiative.
In 2021, our focus will be on laying the groundwork for coordinated and effective action:
• Identifying and harnessing a variety of players from the public, business and social sectors, philanthropy and academia.
• Building consensus on a common agenda: setting goals, objectives and an action strategy.
• Defining common metrics with an emphasis on results.
• Building mechanisms for coordinating and synchronizing the actions of a variety of players.
• Strengthening a common language, communication and trust between the various players.
In 2022 and after the formulation of the strategy, the initiative will gather around dedicated action tables to create solutions in relation to all the topics that will be defined.
We invite you to Join Us! contact us for details:Yasmine Rubin Cooper – Yasmin.r@old-sheatufim.ussl.co.il, Shahaf Merhav Hurvitz – shahaf@old-sheatufim.ussl.co.il
For a review of the knowledge written in Sheatufim – Murder of women and gender-based violence in the family – a knowledge review of systemic treatment in Israel – click here
