Hannah Safran (in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: ''חנה ספרן''; born July 28, 1950) is an Israeli

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, activist and researcher. She is one of the founders of the

Coalition of Women for Peace The Coalition of Women for Peace ( he, קואליציית נשים לשלום) is an umbrella organization of women's groups in Israel, established in November 2000. It describes itself as "a feminist organization against the occupation of Pales ...

and Women in Black.

Education

Safran was born in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, in 1950. She completed her BA in the History of the Jewish People and Biblical Studies at the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa ( he, אוניברסיטת חיפה Arabic: جامعة حيفا) is a university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation in 1972, becoming Is ...

in 1974. She began studying for her MA in political science at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, but did not complete her degree there. Later, in 1995, she received her MA from

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Har ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. She completed her PhD at

in 2001. Her dissertation was on "The Influence of American Feminism on Women's Suffrage in the

Yishuv Yishuv ( he, ישוב, literally "settlement"), Ha-Yishuv ( he, הישוב, ''the Yishuv''), or Ha-Yishuv Ha-Ivri ( he, הישוב העברי, ''the Hebrew Yishuv''), is the body of Jewish residents in the Land of Israel (corresponding to the s ...

Period (1926-1919) and the Women's Movement in Israel (1982-1971)". In 2002, she participated in a leadership training program at the Heschel Sustainability Center.

Career

Safran is a prominent feminist activist and theorist, who has been involved in some of the most noted women's organizations and projects in Israel. She worked for Isha L'Isha The Haifa Feminist Center (part of the

Haifa Women's Coalition The Haifa Women's Coalition is a coalition of four women's organizations in the Israeli city of Haifa: ''Isha l'Isha – Haifa Feminist Center'', ''Kayan – Feminist Organization'', ''Haifa Rape Crisis Center'', and Aswat. The coalition works for ...

) from 1987 to 1996, and continues to volunteer and do activism with the organization. Her weekly column appeared in Isha L'Isha newsletter. She is a regular contributor of articles on feminism,

sexual violence Sexual violence is any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act by violence or coercion, act to traffic a person, or act directed against a person's sexuality, regardless of the relationship to the victim.World Health Organization., World re ...

, and the

occupation of Palestine The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine that have been Military occupation, militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including E ...

in the Israeli press. She was one of the founders of the Haifa Battered Women's Shelter and the Hot line for Battered women. Safran researches feminist history, and taught women and gender studies at the University of Haifa, Emek Yizrael College and the extension of Leslie University in

Netanya Netanya (also known as Natanya, he, נְתַנְיָה) is a city in the Northern Central District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between Poleg stream and Wingate I ...

which later became the Academic College for Arts and Society until her retirement in 2017. Her first book was published in 2006, ''Don't Wanna Be Nice Girls: The Struggle for Suffrage and the New Feminism in Israel''. The book's title is inspired by a quote of one of the early feminist activist in Tel-Aviv in the 70's. Safran resides in Haifa. She has two grown up children with her former partner. She now lives with her life partner and defines herself as a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, "for as long as there is oppression of women's right to choose their own way of life and express their sexuality freely." For her work to advance women's rights in Israel, Safran received the Emil Greenzweig Human Rights Award in 2004, from the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.

Publications

Books

* ''Don't Wanna Be Nice Girls: The Struggle for Suffrage and the New Feminism in Israel'', (לא רוצות להיות נחמדות: המאבק על זכות הבחירה לנשים וראשיתו של הפמיניזם החדש בישראל), Pardes Publishing, 2006 (Hebrew)

Chapters in books

* Safran, Hannah, "Alliance and Denial: Lesbian Protest in Women in Black", in Shadmi Erella and Chava Frankfort-Nachmias, (eds.), Sappho in the Holy Land: Lesbian Existence and Dilemmas in Contemporary Israel, SUNY Press, New York, 2005. pp. 191–202. * Safran, H. (2008). International Struggle, Local Victory: Rosa Welt Straus and the Achievement of Suffrage 1919-1926, In R. Kark, M Shilo, & G. Hasan-Rokem (eds.), Jewish Women in Pre-State Israel (pp. 217–228). Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press. * Safran, H., & Chaikin, R., (2011). "Immigration, Women and Prostitution: the Case of Women from the Former Soviet Union in Israel", in Dalla, Baker, &, DeFrain (eds.) G''lobal Perspectives on Prostitution and SexTrafficking'' (203-222). Lexington Books. * חנה ספרן, רחלי הרטל, אורנה ששון-לוי, "הי ��טוריה לסבית מקומית: פעילות, מאבקים והישגים"' זכויות הקהילה הגאה בישראל: משפט, נטייה מינית וזהות מגדרית, 2016 * Hanna Safran, Racheli Hartal & Orly Sasson-Levy, "Local Lesbian Herstory: Activism, Struggles and Accomplishments".

Articles

* ספרן, ח. (2011). "פמיניזמ �ם נשים ומגדר במרחב האקדמי", המשפט טז(2-1), עמ' 342-321. Safran, H. "Feminism(s), Women and Gender in Academic Spaces", HaMishpat *Safran, H., (1995). "From denial to equal representation: women's peace groups and the creation of new feminist activism in ", Palestine-Israel Journal, II 3, p. 22-25.

References

External links

* * Benjamin, Orly. (2007)
Don't Wanna Be Nice Girls: The Struggle for Suffrage and the New Feminism in Israel (review)
Nashim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issues. 13. 265-269. 10.1353/nsh.2007.0001. {{DEFAULTSORT:Safran, Hannah Living people 1950 births Israeli lesbians Israeli feminists