The Hadassah Foundation’s Israeli grant recipients are advocating for the safety, economic well-being, and rights of all Israelis who identify as women and girls. Today, on International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we are sharing highlights from their recent work to build a future in which all women are economically independent, safe from violence, treated fairly by the legal system, and with access to trauma care.
Women’s Spirit and Jewish Women International Promote Awareness About Economic Abuse
On November 26, Women’s Spirit is leading a conference at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva to mobilize international action and awareness about economic abuse. Less understood and less recognized than physical abuse, economic abuse is a form of abuse in which men exert financial control over their partners and make it difficult for them to leave relationships. The Geneva Conference, a hybrid in-person and online event, is in collaboration with the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Israel, Latvia, and England. The event will focus on raising awareness, deepening understanding of economic abuse, and presenting innovative initiatives and global strategies to eradicate it. It also calls on the UN to designate November 26 as International Day for the Elimination of Economic Abuse. Jewish Women International, which addresses economic abuse in the United States, will also participate. Individuals are welcome to attend online by registering here.
Sexual Assault of Minors Is Up, but Israeli Government Agencies Refuse to Share Data
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI) recently presented its annual report to the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women in the Knesset. This year’s report was troubling not just because of what was in it — including steep increases in reports of sexual violence involving minors — but because it had to be compiled without cooperation from key government agencies. ARCCI’s report is based on data from referrals to the rape crisis centers in its network, which it usually supplements with government data. However, this year, in violation of Israel’s Freedom of Information Act, major government agencies — including the Israel Police, the State Attorney’s Office, the Israel Prison Service, the Education Ministry, the Welfare and Social Affairs Ministry, and the IDF — all withheld key information. This is a departure from previous years, when these bodies consistently provided detailed figures on investigations, indictments, sentencing, and institutional responses. Even without the government’s data, ARCCI documented over 51,000 cases of sexual assault. Learn more in this Jerusalem Post article.
A rabbinical court in Petach Tikva. (Wikimedia Commons)
Rackman Center Fights Expansion of Rabbinical Court Authority
The Rackman Center is lobbying to defeat a Knesset bill that it says would “violate human rights in general and women’s rights in particular.” The bill, which passed its first reading on November 3, would expand the jurisdiction of Israel’s all-male rabbinical courts, allowing them to rule on certain labor and business disputes. According to Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, the founding academic director of the Rackman Center, this bill creates “a parallel halachic [Jewish law] legal system,” a religious system that “does not exist in any other democracy.” Fortunately, the Rackman Center has already mitigated one potential threat of this law to women by successfully advocating to ensure that the law excludes power over disputes that are related to divorce proceedings. Learn more on the Rackman Center’s blog.
Eden Association Trains Gaza Border Region Providers to Treat Trauma
One of the greatest challenges facing Israel’s mental health field is the shortage of trauma-specialized therapists in the Gaza Envelope and Western Negev region. In response, the Eden Association recently launched two professional courses in trauma therapy, training 100 local therapists. And it soon will open a third course training 15 therapists on the Eden Model, its pioneering feminist approach to trauma care for girls with a history of complex post-trauma. In addition, Eden recently graduated the 20th cohort of its residential trauma care program, which has helped more than 500 girls facing extreme circumstances to find safety, belonging, and hope, while gaining the tools they need to become healthy, financially independent adults.