The Glickman Centre

For more than 20 years, working to end domestic violence has been an integral part of Na'amat's mission to raise the status of women. Established in 1994, the Na'amat Canada Glickman Centre for Family Violence Prevention, in Tel Aviv, is a safe haven for victims of domestic abuse. The shelter can accommodate up to 14 women and 16 children, while the counselling and guidance unit serves between 100 and 150 women each month. The centre is unique, as it combines under one roof a women's shelter as well as counselling and guidance centre.

Staff and volunteers help to give residents a sense of physical safety and emotional security. During their stay, (an average of six months), the women regain their sense of self-worth, often eroded by years of abuse. “counselling frequently continues after the women leave the shelter, as it does for some of their children,” says Orit Eaton, Glickman Centre Director. “When a woman is made aware of her rights – when she learns how to take control of her life and refuses to be dominated and dictated to by others, then she is beginning to travel the road that will free her from the nightmare of domestic violence.”

In addition to assisting the victims of domestic violence, the Glickman Centre provides long-term counselling to male perpetrators. With a 90 percent rehabilitation rate among treatable perpetrators, Na'amat is renowned for successfully rebuilding dysfunctional families. Na'amat also delivers domestic violence prevention programs as well as family counselling and mediation.

Rhodie Blanshay Benaroch Children's Centre

The smallest victims of violence, the children living at the Glickman Centre, now have a place to play: The Rhodie Blanshay Benaroch Children's Activity Centre. This new wing of the shelter houses in it a computer room, a baby nursery, a kindergarten, an audio visual education corner, a library, a learning centre, and has an outdoor playground. Rhodie Blanshay Benaroch was a dynamic third generation Na'amat member who made a personal commitment to building a safe and loving environment for the children who need it the most. Rhodie was the catalyst behind this ground-breaking project and Na'amat Canada has now completed the task, in her memory.