Domestic Violence and Healthcare Ethics in Israel

This assignment delves into the complex issue of domestic violence against women in Israel, focusing on the ethical challenges faced by healthcare professionals. It examines how cultural factors influence women's reluctance to report abuse and explores the legal framework surrounding domestic violence reporting. The analysis considers the impact of societal norms that prioritize family harmony over individual safety and the tension between upholding patient confidentiality and protecting victims from harm.

Running head: INTIMATE PARTNER ABUSE & VIOLENCE
INTIMATE PARTNER ABUSE & VIOLENCE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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INTIMATE PARTNER ABUSE & VIOLENCE
The purpose of the article is to present the miserable condition of the women in Israel in
terms of the domestic violence. The article is based on ethical and legal considerations of the
healthcare staffs while screening the victimized women from the domestic violence. The article
is an argumentative one as this presents the ethical and moral dilemma of the healthcare staffs
between the raising the voice and valuing the individual autonomy and the safety of the patient
who has been subjected tub the victims of the domestic violence. Therefore, the article aims to
highlight the screening of the domestic violence in regards to the ethical dilemma.
The article presents several facts that are relevant to the purpose of the article. It is found
at the very beginning of the article that the domestic violence is one of the most common matters
in the society. Along with this, the domestic violence is one of the burning and common issues in
Israel. It is found that the one in the seven women have been victimized of their intimate partners
or their husbands at least once in their lifetime. It is common to be abused once in a week or
once in a month. Ben Natan et al. (2014) opined that Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
published that 20,000 files were opened in 2008 that were reported for violent offenses between
spouses. However, the numbers of the reports on the domestic violence has never been
decreased, and rather it has been raised at 4% from 2007 (Ben-Natan, 2014, pp. 809).
The article discuses the context of the battered women as they are assaulted by their
intimate partner repeatedly both in the form of emotional and physical. However, the assault
most of the time had taken the form of beating, slapping, nonconsensual sexual relations. The
article presents the data that one woman is abused by her intimate partner every 9 seconds (Ben-
Natan, 2014, pp. 809). On the other hand, the article presents the legal perspectives of the
domestic violence on the women. It is found from the article that the only minimal percent of the

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cases are reported regarding the domestic violence, whereas every one woman is been abused
once in a day.
The author states that it is not true that the nation does not have proper law for protecting
the women from the domestic violence, but it is the society that is projecting the matter of the
domestic violence as a common matter. Therefore, the e women do not always report the abusive
behavior that they have been getting from their intimate partners. The legal perspective of the
nation does not definitely promote the domestic violence, but there are some laws which are
pulling behind the women to report the matter of victimization. The general laws state that if the
healthcare authority finds any person injured or unconscious or dead, the authority can report to
the welfare officer or to the police in terms of the suspicion about the cause being the domestic
violence (Ben-Natan, 2014, 810). However, this regulation is also applicable for the healthcare
staffs and the doctors. Therefore, it is evident there is no obligation for anyone to report agonist
his/her intimate partners if they are committing any domestic violence. However, the article
presents the fact that the reporting against the intimate partners to the police can cause the
women to bear more abuse.
The article presents the ethical dilemma of the healthcare professionals in terms of
repotting the physical abuse of the women. The healthcare professionals suffer from the dilemma
between the safety of the patients and the respect the autonomy of the patients (Ben-Natan, 2014,
812). The article states that the women who are the victim of the domestic violence suffers from
the curtailed autonomy and possess poor decision making ability. The research on the
victimization of the women from the domestic violence refers to the fact that it is the victims
who often deny reporting the abuse to the police. The victims are completely dependent on their
partners and this co dependent relationship is the reason for these women to possess poor ability

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in decision making (Alaggia & Vine, 2013). The article highlights that these women feel obliged
to stay with their violent and abusive spouses as the result of their concern for their children. The
women also fear that if they or the health care professionals report to the police about their
spouses for being violent and abusive at them, they with their children will be left with no home
and income (Ben-Natan, 2014, pp. 812). As the result of this fear, when questioned by the
healthcare professionals about the injury, their self confidence is threatened. They feel that
answering these questions can endanger their lives and therefore, they feel abused by the
healthcare professionals. This situation leads the healthcare professionals to suffer from a ethical
and moral dilemma for they fear that the abused women can deny of being abused and as the
result of that the care professionals may be penalized (Alaggia & Vine, 2013).
It must be noted that the violence over the women of Israel was not an unusual matter and
therefore the most of the women do not lodge any report against their spouses or the initiate
partners. The article presents the data on the reporting of the women for being tortured, which
shows that 7.3% women self support the domestic violence compared to the all women who are
being victimized daily (Ben-Natan, 2014, pp. 813). At the same time, there are very low
percentage of women who discuss their helpless plight and the miserable situation due to the
domestic violence with the healthcare professionals or the doctors. The remaining victimized
women are more in numbers and do not like to be questioned by the healthcare workers
regarding the domestic violence. However, it is important to remember and understand that the
identification of the abused women is important in order to provide them proper medication and
mark the rate of violence in the nation. In addition, the identification is also needed for the health
assessment because there are many women who are subjected to abuse during their pregnancy.

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INTIMATE PARTNER ABUSE & VIOLENCE
As the result of the abuse during this delicate time, these women face severe and sensitive health
issues.
Apart from the impact of the violence on the physical health of the women, the mental of
them is also disrupted by the same. It is noteworthy that the relationship of the women with their
intimate partners or the spouses is based on fear and uncertainty. The nature of the women
becomes submissive. In addition, they also suffer from the mental illness. This is another reason
that strengthens the need for the medical help for the women. The medical professionals are
subjected to provide proper and mandatory screening to the women who are the victims of the
domestic violence. However, this must be mentioned that the process of screening is only meant
for the women and not for the men. This is obviously a contradictory regulation by the
government of Israel which is further capable of creating the ethical dilemma within the
healthcare professionals.
Therefore, from the discussed discourse it is assured that the women in Israel, are the
victims of the domestic violence and this issue despite of being the major importance is hidden.
The initial part of the analysis of the article shows the numeric data of the violence and the report
of the same to the police. On the other hand, the discourse also marks that the rate of abuse is
increasing and every other women is victimized once in a day. Although, there are several laws
that protect the women from being abused, but the fear of losing the identity is resulting them to
not report the violence they are encountering by their intimate partners. On the other hand,
driven by the fear of losing the identity and the support from the family, the behavior and the
reaction of the women change when they are questioned by the healthcare professionals about
the reason of their injury (Alaggia & Vine, 2013). This denial of the victimized women further

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INTIMATE PARTNER ABUSE & VIOLENCE
becomes a threat to the healthcare professionals that pulls them back from reporting to the police
against the violence and abuse.
This can be assumed from the above discourse that the victimization of the
women in Israel is not reported due to the fear of the women for losing their identity as well as
the family support. The article provides the fact that the urban areas of Israel have not yet
accepted and implemented the governmental laws on the protection of the women from the
domestic violence (Ben-Natan, 2014). It is found that the basic purpose of the women is to
provide happiness to their spouses irrespective of their abusive nature. Along with this, these
women perceive the any questions about their domestic violence as offensive and unethical,
since they are afraid of their domestic secret to be out in public (Alaggia & Vine, 2013).
Apart from the this general reaction of the victimized women, the fact is also clear from
the article that the women being driven by the fear of the abuse are obsessed with following the
assaulter’s wishes. The victims become obsessed and accustomed with the violence that they
think it is normal to bear the abusive behavior of their spouses. Therefore, they when asked about
the domestic violence become aggressive towards the healthcare professionals as they fear that if
the brutal secret of the violence is out they might face severe consequences from their spouse or
intimate partners. Even if there is any wish or desire or the urge within the women to express the
feelings and the pain that they are getting from their spouses, they suppresses it. Overall, the
personality and the desire of the victimized women are suppressed due to the fear of being
abused more severely and they tend to adopt the pattern of behavior that is devoted towards the
happiness of their spouses (Alaggia & Vine, 2013). As the result to this, the healthcare
professionals are unable to report against the

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INTIMATE PARTNER ABUSE & VIOLENCE
However, the article is basically focused on the healthcare professionals and their
ethical dilemma on the matter of the domestic violence and necessity to report the same. The
author throughout the article presents the legal statement of the government regarding the
domestic violence and what the healthcare professionals do in a situation where the women is the
victim of the domestic violence. However, the point of educating the society is completely
missed out in the article. This point can be questioned by the scholars that whether it is enough to
the make the healthcare professionals and the women aware of the domestic violence and the
need to report the same. It has been taken for granted in the article that the domestic violence is
common and natural by the intimate partners of the women. However, the article repeatedly
emphasizes upon the necessity to report the violence to the police, but it has not been mentioned
anywhere in the article that the society must be educated in terms of eliminating the
victimization of the women due to the domestic violence. It is not possible to screen every
woman and make them report to the police against their spouses or intimate partners as they are
already victimized and scared. Therefore, the need for educating the society lies there.

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Reference:
Alaggia, R., & Vine, C. (Eds.). (2013). Cruel but not unusual: violence in Canadian families.
Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press.
Ben-Natan, M. (2014). Screening by healthcare staff for domestic violence against women in
Israel-ethical and legal aspects. Journal of family violence, 29(7), 809-813.