In the last year, JWI and the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence have spent countless hours working to update the Violence Against Women Act. Here’s what you need to know before the bill is finally introduced this week.
Read MoreBy Steph Black
Pride is the annual round of parades and other events held this time of year everywhere from New York to Sao Paulo to Tokyo. These festive gatherings--places where LGBTQ folks can celebrate who they are and how they feel—are filled with joy and rainbows. They are also one of the few times a year LGBT people can be truly visible.
Read MoreBy Steph Black
Pride is the annual round of parades and other events held this time of year everywhere from New York to Sao Paulo to Tokyo. These festive gatherings--places where LGBTQ folks can celebrate who they are and how they feel—are filled with joy and rainbows. They are also one of the few times a year LGBT people can be truly visible.
Read Moreby Rabbi Richard Hirsh
What an odd moment in American cultural history surrounds this coming season of Purim. The opening chapters of the Megillah are replete with narratives that resonate in contemporary terms. A husband orders his wife to appear wearing her royal diadem — and, in the midrashic imagination, “nothing else” — for the amusement of his banquet guests, none of whom speak to the inappropriate and degrading demand.
Read Moreby Naomi Ragins Senser, Executive Board Member of SHALVA, the Jewish Domestic Abuse Counseling Center in Chicago
The Talmud teaches that anyone who has the ability to correct a situation and is derelict in doing so bears the responsibility for whatever results. If abuse is not acknowledged, it is tolerated. Standing by while a sin is being committed is a violation of Jewish law. Abuse is happening in our neighborhoods. Women and their children are being harmed. We cannot stand by.
Read MoreDuring Sexual Assault Awareness Month, JWI communications manager Lauren Landau wrote about the nonprofit's work to ensure the health and happiness of the Jewish community and the families within it. This post originally appeared in the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism's blog.
Read MoreDomestic abuse typically conjures up images of angry men and bruised partners. But children are deeply affected by violence. With these young victims in mind, JWI is working to build 100 children’s libraries in domestic violence shelters across the country.
Read MoreTami Ackerman writes about why JWI's National Library Initiative is a project close to her heart.
Read More“There’s still a stigma around [domestic violence] the way there used to be a stigma around cancer... I’m trying to normalize the conversation about it.”
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