Members of technological, social and community projects gathered today at the Knesset for a special day that will not be forgotten.
MK Aliza Lavie: ‘Today we have created a huge community that combines hands to fight violence and prevent a disaster.’ One of the most exciting days in the Knesset, together with Google and Facebook, Rabbi’s and Start – Up’s and Beauticians, Bnei Mechinot and students: to take responsibility into their own hands in order to fight the plague of violence, on the internet and on the streets.
More than 500 participants took part in a special Knesset session sponsored by MK Aliza Lavie, under the title: Preventing the Next Disaster: Business Sector and Civil Society in Violence Prevention Projects Google Israel and Facebook, CEOs of Government Ministries, Innovative Technological Projects, Rabbi’s, students and preparatory girls gathered today in the Knesset with the common goal of combating violence in both the physical and virtual space through community and technological initiatives.
This special day was held in conjunction with the project to train female beauticians to identify signs of violence among women, which was launched in recent months under the leadership of MK Dr. Aliza Lavie. A feminine atmosphere alongside the Israel Cosmetic Association, in order to expand community and social responses to other initiatives.
The event comprised of discussions held in the Science, Technology, Labor and Welfare Committees, where innovative projects were presented in order to identify and deal with violence and sexual abuse. People working in the beauty industry have learned to identify signs of violence, innovative technological initiatives to deal with violence, shaming and specifically violence against youth, partnering with social organizations collaborating with Facebook and Google to fight cyberbullying, a new application for dealing with and reporting sexual harassment and many other technological and social projects. Professionalism for the identification of victims and victims of violence. In addition, during the discussions, community projects were presented: What do they all share? They prove that power is in OUR hands. Long before waiting for authority action – we have the power to work together in cooperation and perhaps we will save lives. This is just the beginning.
During the main conference, the Director General of the Ministry of Welfare, Avigdor Kaplan, presented the ministry’s vision for combating violence and promised that the Ministry will budget the training programs in the next budget. Also participating was Facebook Representative from Ireland, Julie de Bailliencourt, who believes in Facebook’s security and privacy policies in Europe, Noa Elfant Lefler from Google, who presented Google’s tools promoting social initiatives, the Prison Service Commissioner, the singer Dana Berger and others.
At the end of this event Aliza Lavie commented: ‘Technologies that have entered our lives create new dangers, but on the other hand, there are new opportunities that can protect our children and grandchildren, this day is just the beginning, we will continue to harness the input of other professionals, technologies and communities to fight the scourge of violence. This is a rare opportunity to take a dramatic step in the struggle against domestic violence and in general – I think that the community has tremendous power that is not being exploited in many other areas – with creative thinking and out of the box – it is possible to increase awareness and to prevent the next tragedy.
