Knesset Survey: 30% of Arab Women Fear Attack by Family Member

A full 30% of Israeli Arab women are fearful of being attacked by a family member, or of a family member attacking their children, according to a survey to be presented on Tuesday to the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality on the occasion of International Women's Day.

The survey was conducted by Shelly Mizrahi-Simon of the Knesset Research and Information Center, which examined the sense of personal safety in Israel, alongside additional aspects such as employment, health, and economic security. The survey included 1,028 respondents 18 and older, half of them women.

The results reveal significant gaps between the sense of personal safety of Arab women and the rest of the women in Israel. About 30% of Arab women shared their fear that a male or female member of their family physically hurt them, their children or another family member — only 6% of Israeli women overall experience these fears.

20% of Arab women are afraid of being assaulted physically by a family member — compared with 4% of Israeli women overall. 19% of Arab women fear being sexually assaulted by a family member, as opposed to 5% of Israeli women overall.

More than half the respondents, 59% of women and 54% of men, expressed fear of offensive behavior directed at them from state institutions. 74% of Arab women shared this fear, 51% of ultra-Orthodox women, and 49% women from the Former Soviet Union.

29% of women and 24% of men do not feel safe approaching police for help.