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A study monitoring 116 threatened women who received protection from the Michal Sela Forum reveals groundbreaking data for the first time: a 700% increase in the sense of security at home and a 1,200% increase in the sense of security in the immediate vicinity of home. "It is possible to defeat domestic violence. Now, it is also scientifically proven," says Lili Ben Ami, founder of the Michal Sela Forum.
About
The Michal Sela Forum (MSF) aims to prevent femicide and intimate partner violence (IPV) through the use of technology and innovation. A nonprofit association, the MSF has invented and developed two innovative, practical protection programs – “Michal’s Watch” and “Michal Sela Canines” – to provide physical and emotional security and save the lives of women threatened by their partners: “Michal’s Watch,” consisting of protection provided by a private security company in the woman’s home and/or “Michal Sela Canines,” consisting of a personal guard dog for life. These protective solutions are an alternative to women’s shelters. Today, women being threatened by their partners have to choose between leaving home and going to a shelter for battered/threatened women and the services that the MSF provides for free. These protection programs are operated exclusively by the Michal Sela Forum; this document represents the first publication of the programs’ accompanying research.
Goals of protective programs
Delivering physical security and effective protection for the woman being threatened and for her children; providing a life-saving response in emergencies; and deterring the attacker, thus reducing the incidence of violent/threatening events.
Granting freedom and a normal life for the threatened woman and her children in and outside their home.
Allowing emotional security and improved quality of life for the threatened woman and her children, including better quality of sleep.
Providing the threatened woman with a range of choices for protection suited to her own preferences.
Target audience
Women known to the authorities as threatened by their partners, who do not living at home with their threatening partner.
From June 2020 until the publication of the report (August 2024), the Michal Sela Forum has provided 402 protection packages to 397 threatened women and some 1,341 children, a total of 1,738 people. During the time the programs were in operation, there were 20 real incidents in which the protection programs prevented murders and saved lives.
Costs
The average cost of providing protection to a threatened woman is ILS 1,336 a month for “Michal Sela Canines” (5.57 percent of the cost of a women’s shelter a month) and ILS 310 a month for “Michal’s Watch” (1.3 percent of the cost of a women’s shelter a month).
Accompanying research
The research accompanying “Michal’s Watch” is a quantitative study carried out under the auspices and supervision of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of National Security. The study covers the period between October 2021 and the end of December 2023 with the participation of 107 threatened women.
The research accompanying “Michal Sela Canines” is a qualitative study carried out by Mashav Applied Research under the auspices and supervision of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of National Security. The study covers the period between January 2021 and January 2024 with the participation of 9 threatened women, i.e., all the program participants.
Findings summary
The threatened women participating in “Michal’s Watch” reported an increase of 700 percent in their sense of safety at home and an increase of 1,200 percent in their sense of safety in the vicinity of their home.
In terms of violence on the part of their partners and/or family members, the participants reported: a 62 percent decrease in incidents of physical violence; a 72 percent decrease in incidents of sexual violence; a 28 percent decrease in economic violence; a 26 percent decrease in verbal violence; and a 17 percent decrease in emotional violence.
The qualitative study of “Michal Sela Canines” shows that the program is a life-altering experience for the participants, allowing them to embark on a new path in life. The presence of a dog in the women’s lives as well as the training and personal attention they received significantly improved their sense of protection and personal security (feelings that were eroded at best and nonexistent at worst before they joined the program) and restored to them a sense of freedom and control (which the women, before they joined the program, said had been stolen from them). The study also revealed that the presence of a canine in their lives helped them and their children heal from the trauma they experienced and improved the women’s (and their children’s) quality of sleep. Moreover, the study demonstrated that participation in the program increased the women’s sense of calm and reduced the state of anxiety and hypervigilance that had characterized their existence before they joined the program.
In the questionnaires, the participants reported:
A 73% increase in their sense of personal safety, control, and freedom.
A 70% decrease in the number of threats from their ex-partners.
A 226% increase in the number of times the women left their homes for nonessential activities (social gatherings, trips, etc.) and a 620 percent increase in the number of times their children did so.
A 95%t increase in their sense of capability to lead a normal life and a 29 percent improvement in their quality of sleep (a significant, almost dramatic change).
An 18% increase in their ability to cope with trauma and a 23 percent increase in their sense of leading meaningful lives.
The MSF provides threatened women with the option of choosing an alternative to a women’s shelter and grants threatened women and their children practical protection, physical safety, freedom, a higher quality of life and sense of wellbeing, mental health, better quality of sleep, healing from trauma, enhanced self-confidence, a return to structured routines of school and work, and a sense of capability and control over their life and the lives of her children.
The findings of the accompanying research clearly prove that both innovative protection programs – “Michal’s Watch” and “Michal Sela Canines” – have succeeded in fulfilling all their goals in protecting and saving the lives of women threatened by their partners.
For the full report >>
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