Barak gestured toward the posters bearing the names of the 216 women murdered by family members over the past decade and said, “It is our obligation to these women and to all the women of Israel to ensure that other women’s cries for help are not missed.”
Barak praised the work that has been done so far to expose and prevent the phenomenon, but added that there still is much work to be done and called on people to volunteer for rape crisis centers, anti-violence hotlines and similar agencies.
She also appealed to women who are being abused, telling them: “Many people are waiting for your call so they can help you.”
Tel Aviv City Council member Michal Eden, who is openly lesbian, told the demonstrators about her friend Sharon Prima Peleg. She was murdered by her estranged husband during an argument over alimony on Aug. 1. Eden described how Sharon’s husband had abused her during their marriage and how, shortly before her murder, their two young sons had told her that their father had told them that she deserved to die.
“Your children miss you and your friends and relatives long for you,” the victim’s sister, Dvorit Prima, told the crowd.