In 2004, Justice Menachem HaCohen of the Jerusalem Family Court offered new hope to "agunot" when he ruled that a man refusing his wife a "get" must pay her NIS 425,000 in punitive damages, because "to grant a "get" constitutes a severe infringement on her ability to lead a reasonable, normal life, and can be considered emotional abuse lasting several years." He noted that "[This is not another sanction against someone refusing to give a "get", intended to speed up the process of granting a "get", and this court is not involving itself in any future arrangements for the granting of a "get", but rather, it is a direct response to the consequences that stem from not granting a "get", and the right of the woman to receive punitive damages." This ruling stemmed from the Public Litigation Project initiated by the advocacy organization Center for Women's Justice as one of a number of successful lawsuits filed in Israeli civil courts claiming financial damages against recalcitrant husbands.