An opinion poll conducted by Naamat to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women—to be commemorated tomorrow, November 25—found that 40% of the Israeli public knows women who are victims of spousal abuse.
Some 20% of respondents said they personally know a woman who has been abused by her husband, while a similar number said that they know such women through other people. The poll was conducted by Shavakim Panorama, who surveyed a sample of 504 Israelis representing the adult population of Israel .
More provocatively, the poll found that 9% of men admitted that they would not have employed a woman who was a victim of domestic abuse if they had known in advance, explaining that they feared the woman's professional performance would suffer as a result or her husband would come to the workplace and disrupt work.
Some 58% of respondents said they would employ a woman who had been a victim of domestic abuse, while 8% said they did not know what they would do. Respondents were asked what they would do if they found that that a colleague beat his wife. A total of 45.7% said they would suggest he get treatment; 32.7% said they would inform the authorities; 5.5% said they would inform their boss; 6.4% said they would do nothing; and 9.6% said they don't know what they would do in such a situation.
Naamat commissioned the poll for its project to qualify employers and employees to recognize victims of spousal abuse in the workplace. The project will be presented tomorrow. The project, which is currently being successfully implemented in many workplaces in the United States —particularly California —aims to encourage women who suffer from violence to lodge a complaint with professional bodies able to help them.
Talia Livni, the head of Naamat, says that the workplace is sometimes an abused wife's only window to the outside world. The project managers note that violence against women has a negative economic impact on the workplace, particularly due to absences, harassment at work, and a lack of focus. |