Flash News

There is flash news: the world is not fair. There is no justice ever.


These are the harsh words of the woman who manages the women's shelter in Be'er Sheva where I will be volunteering this summer. Today was our orientation and I, along with five other girls from my program and 10 Brazilian/Uruguayan 18 year olds, learned about abusive relationships, the role of the government, the role of NGO's, and the day to day operations of "our" specific shelter.

There are 14 women's shelters in Israel, two specifically for the ultra Orthodox, two specifically for Arab women, and the rest for any citizens of Israel. This shelter where I am working in Be'er Sheva is for all different types of Israelis and currently has an ultra Orthodox family, one or two Arab families, and a diverse group of Jewish families from Israel and Ethiopia. There are about 12 families total, which include the women and their children up to 14 years old.

We began our orientation with a discussion of the six types of abuse: physical, emotional, sexual, financial, religious, and immigration-based. It was horrible to hear about the different ways that people can be cruel to one another and coerce one another. During one particular anecdote that the manager was relaying to us, I asked why the man was not arrested by the police. She started to explain the various (reasonable) reasons why women would not go to the police with their concerns ("he just threatened to kill you?! That happens all the time of course...") and why arresting a man for a night or two might just make him more angry when he is freed.

I was becoming frustrated with this idea that although the husbands are inflicting harm on their wives, the wives are the ones who must seek shelter--put themselves out of harm's way by effectively putting themselves in prison--while the man gets to continue living his life freely.

The manager told me, "There is flash news: the world is not fair. There is no justice ever."

She explained that when she began working at the shelter when she was young, she was idealistic and believed in justice. But over the years she has become so pragmatic, and she does not believe in justice. She told us that the worst part of her job is that she has to turn down women all the time.

"There is a finite amount of staff, money, energy.." She called the phone calls she receives from social workers on behalf of abused women decisions made under fire. "Those phone calls are a certain kind of fire, of bullets, of bombs. 'That man just tried to cut her throat' the social worker will tell me. Everything in me wants to take in this woman and protect her. But if I don't have any more data on that woman--what diseases she has, if she herself is violent--or if I don't have the space in the shelter...I have to protect the 12 families already entrusted to my care.

"No justice. Just reality."


This was not easy for me to hear. My life revolves around the pursuit of justice and fairness. I thought, surely to save a life you could consolidate families two to a room, put up a screen, and get everyone to cozy up. Surely to save a life you could stretch your resources just a bit further. Surely to save a life you could look the other way when government regulations aren't being followed or an illegal immigrant is admitted.

But the answer is, you cannot. Setting those precedents would erode the shelter, would take away its government funding (which provides about 80% of the money for the shelter's operations), and would endanger the current residents.

Because of the manager's iron fist, the shelter today is a beautiful, well-run, positive environment. There is a lovely area for the children and many kids running around welcoming us and trying to get to know us. Each woman has her own room for herself and her children, and she cooks for her own family in a large communal kitchen. The dining room is spacious and organized. There is yoga, animal therapy, and gardening once a week for the children. There are as many social workers as there are residents, practically, and now with the volunteers, nearly as many volunteers as there are children.

The tour of the shelter was the most uplifting part of the day. People were excited to see us and the children especially were thrilled. I was glad to see that the facilities were in excellent shape. After our tour, we had a meeting to discuss our specific volunteer placements. In the mornings I will be writing grants and researching best practices of women's shelters around the world. In the afternoons I will be working with five 12-14 year olds doing fun activities. I can't wait to get started.