The police emergency hotline 100 does not have receptionists who can answer Arab women in distress, says Kayan - an Arab feminist group.

Ula Shteivi, Kayan's legal director, said yesterday that Monday night's murder of a convict's wife in Kfar Qassem falls under femicide (systematic killing of women since they are women).

	Advertisement

"It doesn't matter what the motive was. The fact is that women are murdered on a large scale, and others are being abused," she said.

Women in distress have called Kayan for help with the police. "Arab women refrain from going to the police because they don't speak Hebrew. I called 100 myself, and none of the telephonists spoke Arabic. They referred us to a station in Nazareth, where they could not respond to an urgent call," Shteivi said.

The Police said yesterday that hotline 100 is part of a wider set-up with people speaking several languages, including Arabic. "In addition there are investigators at community service centers who speak Arabic."