Giving Voice to Women: An Israeli Case Study

THIS PAPER EXAMINES A RECENT Israeli court decision from the District Court of Tel-Aviv that involved a young woman who had suffered from a series of rapes and violent attacks from her boyfriend. The issue of violence against women has become a topic of legal discussions and reforms in the last few years in Israel. The Israeli Supreme Court has responded to growing public criticism about the legal system with several precedential decisions, among them the Buhbut case (domestic violence) and the Beeri case (a rape in Kibbutz Shomrat). 1 Compared to these celebrated decisions, my choice of a case from Tel-Aviv's District Court seems to pale. In choosing to study this case, I was informed by the methodology that I employ—a methodology that concentrates not only on the end result (the court decision), but also on the legal process that led to this decision.