Singer Odia Honors Domestic Violence Victims in New Song

Israeli singer Odia has released a new EP featuring five songs, including one that serves as a poignant tribute to victims of domestic violence. In the track titled "Dylan *3898," she incorporated the phone number for the Michal Sela Forum, an organization dedicated to combating violence. Odia and her collaborator Avi Ohayon wrote the song from the perspective of a woman in an abusive relationship, inspired by numerous cases they encountered.

The inclusion of the phone number was a deliberate choice to raise awareness and direct women in need of assistance to the forum. The song's lyrics vividly depict the fear and despair of a woman experiencing abuse, detailing physical and emotional violence, including threats and forced silence. The lyrics include lines like, "Dylan lies with her eyes, she has marks on her face, on her hands, dies of fear that he is home... and sometimes she calculates how half her life has passed, she lies to herself inside. This is her two hundred and twentieth time crying her life... Dylan, there are clothes to fold and shut your mouth, and also make coffee, and close your eyes, and if a demon enters him, he slaps her."

The song and the organization's number are a direct reference to Michal Sela, a social activist and social worker who was murdered by her husband, Eliran Melul, on October 3, 2019. The indictment against Melul states he repeatedly stabbed Sela 11 times in their home, in the presence of their infant daughter, after an argument. Melul remained at the scene with Sela and their daughter for 17 hours after the murder.

In December 2021, the Jerusalem District Court sentenced Melul to life imprisonment, the maximum penalty under Israeli law, and ordered him to pay 258,000 shekels in compensation to their daughter. Michal Sela's sister, Lili Ben-Ami, founded the Michal Sela Forum to combat violence through technological solutions, innovative thinking, and increased public awareness and responsibility in identifying warning signs of abuse. The organization focuses on developing innovative and technological projects for both prevention and emergency situations.