Adalah Submits Petition to Supreme Court Demanding Shelter for Young Arab Women

On 9 October 2003, Adalah submitted a petition to the Supreme Court of Israel asking the court to compel the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs to immediately open a suitable shelter for young Arab women. The petition was filed on behalf of three feminist organizations: Women Against Violence, Assiwar - The Palestinian Feminist Center in Support of Victims of Sexual Abuse, and Kayan - A Feminist Organization, and in Adalah's own name, by Adalah Attorney Gadeer Nicola.

At the end of May 2003, the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs closed the "Ma'on Hagalil" shelter in Akka, the only secured shelter serving teenaged Arab young women in danger of physical abuse; for Arab young women who were judged by the courts to be a threat to themselves or others; and as an alternative to incarceration for juvenile offenders. The Minister did not initiate a comparable service option to meet the needs of young Arab women. Many of the shelter's residents were left with no place to go.

In the petition, Adalah argued that the failure to open a secured shelter for Arab young women violates the principle of equality on the basis of gender and national identity. Adalah argued that Arab women citizens of Israel form a distinct sub-group, and thus, are discriminated against in that young Arab women are the only group not provided with an appropriate shelter. The Ministry funds secured shelters for Jewish teenaged girls, for Jewish teenaged boys, and for Arab teenaged boys.

Adalah further argued that the Minister's policy violates the rule of law. Under Israeli law, appropriate alternatives must be available to the courts for at-risk teenagers. The only shelter options now available for teenaged Arab women - assignment to a shelter for Jewish youth, imprisonment, or care in a less secured environment - present intractable problems. Existing secured shelters are full to capacity and have long waiting lists. In addition, shelters for Jewish young women are often ill-equipped to adequately care for Arab young women, such as an inability to provide counseling in Arabic, and are unfamiliar with the social and cultural context confronting Arab young women.

The petition emphasized that the State Comptroller and officials within the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs have clearly noted the need for a secured shelter serving young Arab women. The Comptroller's 1999 report found that "the Social Affairs Ministry has not examined properly the special needs of teenagers and youngsters in the Arab sector to develop suitable services for them." In a recent letter to Adalah, Reuvan Ya'akov, a Ministry official in charge of secured homes, agreed that "The family and social pressure in this sector toward 'socially deviant' girls...is acute and endangers their lives. A locked home is required to afford them full protection from themselves and from the environment."

H.C. 9111/03, Women Against Violence et. al. v. Minister of Labor and Social Affairs