TORONTO, May 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CHW (Canadian Hadassah-WIZO) will be hosting Lili Ben Ami, Founder and CEO of Michal Sela Forum, in Canada June 4-14, 2023. As Michal Sela Forum’s sole Canadian partner, CHW has committed to raise awareness about the issues surrounding domestic violence, including the warning signs, provide grant funding for The Michal Sela Canines, and support innovative solutions to keep women and children safe at home.
Michal Sela Forum (MSF) is a non-profit organization in Israel that represents a revolutionary way of combating domestic violence through innovation and technological solutions. MSF promotes out-of-the-box thinking, personal entrepreneurship, public awareness, and responsibility. The Israeli public, and senior experts in industry, government, high-tech and counterterrorism have all rallied to the cause. MSF is building, from the ground up, a new ecosystem of start-ups to prevent violence against women.
According to Lisa Colt-Kotler, CHW CEO, “It is a privilege and honour to partner with MSF, which Lili founded in memory of her late sister Michal Sela. Michal was murdered at the hands of her husband in her own home. By bringing together the best and brightest minds of the tech world together annually, MSF’s mission is to solve the social crisis of global femicide. We hope that through our partnership with MSF, CHW can help empower victims of domestic violence, save the lives of women like Michal Sela, and break the cycle of violence in Israel and Canada.”
One of the innovative solutions available through MSF, The Michal Sela Canines, provides women under high-risk threat of intimate partner violence with a life-saving protection dog. The dog is given to the woman to live with her as a family member. The dog is a life-saving gift that provides the woman and her children freedom and independence, as well as physical and emotional security. The criteria to be accepted to the program is that the threat to the woman’s life must be recognized by law enforcement or welfare services and the victim must be living apart from the abuser. This is an innovative project and the first of its kind in Israel. CHW has committed funds toward this program, which are matched in Israel. CHW is in early stages of development to implement the program here in Canada.
Additionally, Michal’s Watch, a flagship program in Israel, actively saves the lives of abused families, providing that the woman is no longer living with the abuser. Built through cross-sectoral cooperation together with domestic violence experts, legal experts, and experts from elite Israeli security units, Michal’s Watch essentially transforms the woman’s home into a shelter. Michal’s Watch provides women with a full set of “armor” through security cameras, panic buttons monitored 24/7, self-defence training, and legal support.
About Canadian Hadassah-WIZO (CHW)
Founded by visionary Jewish women in 1917, CHW (Canadian Hadassah-WIZO) is a non-political, non-partisan, national network of dedicated volunteers who believe that excellence and advancement of education, healthcare, and social services transcend politics, religion, and national boundaries. Learn more about CHW at www.chw.ca.
For more information, or the opportunity to interview Lili Ben Ami during her visit, please contact: Rebecca Bowslaugh, Director of Marketing and Communications, at rebecca@chw.ca or 416-477-5964 ext. 111.
