Jewish Women International (JWI) is a

Jewish-American American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by Jewish culture, culture, ethnicity, or Judaism, religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of Am ...

social service organization founded in 1897 by American Jewish women associated with

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International ( ; from ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit Jewish service organization and was formerly a cultural association for German Jewish immigrants to the United States. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the se ...

, an international Jewish social service organization. The organization's mission is described as working to empower women and girls of all backgrounds, ensuring their safety, health, rights, and security. The group maintains it is inspired by a legacy of women's leadership and Jewish values. The group cites the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam ("repairing the world") as a guiding Jewish principle for the organization. A priority for the group is the prevention of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

. JWI was the first Jewish organization to establish an international conference on domestic violence in the Jewish community held in 2003. In the late 1990s, the organization estimated that family members in a sizable percentage of all Jewish households in the United States (estimated between 15% and 25%) experienced domestic violence. And that the rates were similar across the

Jewish denominations Jewish religious movements, sometimes called " denominations", include diverse groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Samaritans are also considered ethnic Jews by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, although they a ...

. In 2001, the group proposed a long-term strategy to respond to and prevent domestic violence in the Jewish community. Among the issues addressed by the group is the reluctance of Jewish women facing abuse to seek assistance, or delays in seeking assistance. Factors identified with this issue include shame, fear of unfavorable child custody outcomes, and the lack of financial means to seek legal recourse. The term used to describe this shame is "''shonda''" (a Yiddish term). The group points to the issue of the lack of awareness in the Jewish community and the lack of a vigorous condemnation from rabbinic authorities which may perpetuate the perception of domestic violence as not occurring in the Jewish community. In 2011,

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

journalist

Dana Bash Dana Ruth Bash (née Schwartz; born June 15, 1971) is an American journalist, news anchor, host of '' Inside Politics'' and co-anchor of ''State of the Union'' on CNN. Early life and education Bash was born Dana Ruth Schwartz in Manhattan into ...

resigned as a trustee of JWI under pressure over its abortion-rights advocacy. A number of conservative blogs had highlighted the group's position on abortion after Bash accepted the trustee position.

References

Jewish organizations based in the United States B'nai B'rith Jewish women's organizations in the United States Organizations established in 1897 {{USA-org-stub

See also

References