BJCWF Fall 2010 Newsletter

Welcome to our returning and new BJCWF members! Here is a brief update on our group, our happenings so far, and what's to come later this year.

A FEW WORDS FROM OUR CHAIR

Girls’ self esteem is being undermined in many ways. From media and technology to inequality in boy-girl relationships, to having an immigrant or disadvantaged status, and even to the stereotype of being “a good girl,” girls are increasingly at risk. This year our Women’s Fund will be focusing on issues related to girls and how we can help empower them. We have started to talk about a concept we call “emotional resiliency” by which we mean helping girls to deal with the difficulties they encounter and become emotionally healthy and appropriately assertive.

Our opening event, which included a viewing of the PBS documentary “A Girl’s Life,” gave us a glimpse into the lives of four young women and the issues which confront them. The film aroused the interest of many Fund members and led to the desire to continue exploring these issues. In response we’ll be delving deeper into the issues by focusing our Lunch n’ Learns on grantees whose projects directly impact girls. Our first session was “Moving Traditions,” a program that promotes self-esteem, leadership skills and Jewish identity. Next month we’ll be visiting RAW Art Works in Lynn to learn how the arts encourage healthy development. Later in the year, we will learn about bullying, and visit an innovative school-based program.

Our efforts to learn more about the issues help us become better grant makers.  Join us as we focus on learning about programs that promote health and emotional well being in young women, so that we can create solutions, change things for the better and connect with our grant recipients. I think it will be an exciting year – I look forward to seeing you and working with you.

Best,

Carol Targum

Chair

GRANTS UPDATE

Our 2011 grant review is underway! Letters of intent are due in by early November , and we’ll be reviewing them throughout the month. You can still sign up to be a reader or to join a grant committee. Just email Susan Ebert (susane@cjp.org) to get involved; it doesn't take more than a few hours total and it's a great way to really contribute towards our grantmaking process.

LUNCH N' LEARN

On October 26th we held a lunch n' learn program featuring Rosh Hodesh: It’s A Girl Thing, a program of grantee Moving Traditions. 22 BJCWF members attended this get-together; a few of them are pictured below.   Regional Director Cheryl Weiner and program participant Marissa Brockman presented a workshop summarizing the project and detailing its significant impact on participants.   We were forwarded this note concerning the meeting, which really says it all about the mission and focus of BJCWF...

"Hey Cheryl!

Thank you for inviting me to come and speak at the presentation today.   I had such a fantastic time being with you and meeting all the other women.  It was amazing to see that they care so much about girls like me, and they understand how hard it is to be a teenager sometimes.  It made me feel really good about myself, and proud to be in Rosh Hodesh.

Today was also great because it gave me the confidence to talk in front of a group of women I had never met before and open up to them.   It was so interesting to hear about their own experiences when they were my age, and they were really fun to talk to.  I've never done anything like that before.  Just standing there and having people really listening to me and what I had to say made me feel really good about myself.  It made me realize how important Rosh Hodesh is in my life and how much it helps me.  Rosh Hodesh has helped me deal with stress, friends, gossip, school and other things, and I am lucky to have it in my life.  I think that all girls should do the program.

Thanks again so much for today and I hope to do this with you again!

Marissa"

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT 

Doris Gordon is can truly say she's a charter member of the BJCWF - as a matter of fact, she was a member of "the fund" before the fund really existed!  Doris, at the recommendation of her husband - who is quite active in CJP and other Jewish philanthropies - attended one of the very first "planning" meetings of the fund.  She loved the idea that the members of the organization would collectively determine how grants would be funded.  She signed on, and never looked back.

Doris has been active in almost every aspect of the fund's work over the past ten grant cycles.  She has sat on grant review committees, hosted meetings, read letters of intent, and even brought in new people to the group.  But she truly enjoys going on site visits on behalf of the organization.  She fondly recalls visits to On The Rise and Germaine Lawrence, both grant recipients from BJCWF.  She has even done site visits in Israel, having met with recipients Economic Empowerment for Women and Mahout firsthand on behalf of the fund.

And what keeps Doris engaged?  A few things.  She loves watching, and participating in, the fund's evolution.  She greatly admires how year after year things become more organized, professional, and visible.  She also stays for the people.  She says, "I love working with good people you can trust.  You know the process and the decision making steps insure that that the best decisions will be made." 

Newest Research on the Sexualization of Girls by the American Psychological Association

As we begin our new year of research and grantmaking, with a special focus on of building emotional resilience in girls this year, please take a look at this new report from the American Psychological Association.  This report reviews and summarizes the current psychological theory, research, and clinical experience addressing the sexualization of girls today.  Click here for the full report.

Best, 

Susan

The executive summary is as follows...

Journalists, child advocacy organizations, parents and psychologists have argued that the sexualization of girls is a broad and increasing problem and is harmful to girls. The APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls was formed in response to these expressions of public concern.

APA has long been involved in issues related to the impact of media content on children. In 1994, APA adopted a policy resolution on Violence in Mass Media, which updated and expanded an earlier resolution on televised violence. In 2004, the APA Task Force on Advertising and Children produced a report examining broad issues related to advertising to children. That report provided recommendations to restrict advertising that is primarily directed at young children and to include developmentally appropriate disclaimers in advertising, as well as recommendations regarding research, applied psychology, industry practices, media literacy, advertising and schools. In 2005, APA adopted the policy resolution on Violence in Video Games and Interactive Media, which documented the negative impact of exposure to violent interactive media on children and youth and called for the reduction of violence in these media. These resolutions and reports addressed how violent media and advertising affect children and youth, but they did not address sexualization. The APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls was tasked with examining the psychological theory, research and clinical experience addressing the sexualization of girls via media and other cultural messages, including the prevalence of these messages and their impact on girls and the role and impact of race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.The task force was charged with producing a report, including recommendations for research, practice, education and training, policy and public awareness.

This report examines and summarizes psychological theory, research and clinical experience addressing the sexualization of girls. The report (a) defines sexualization; (b) examines the prevalence and provides examples of sexualization in society and in cultural institutions, as well as interpersonally and intrapsychically; (c) evaluates the evidence suggesting that sexualization has negative consequences for girls and for the rest of society; and (d) describes positive alternatives that may help counteract the the influence of sexualization.

There are several components to sexualization, and these set it apart from healthy sexuality. Sexualization occurs when:

• a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics;
• a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness (narrowly defined) with being sexy;
• a person is sexually objectified—that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making; and/or
• sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person.

All four conditions need not be present; any one is an indication of sexualization. The fourth condition (the inappropriate imposition of sexuality) is especially relevant to children. Anyone (girls, boys, men, women) can be sexualized. But when children are imbued with adult sexuality, it is often imposed upon them rather than chosen by them. Self-motivated sexual exploration, on the other hand, is not sexualization by our definition, nor is age-appropriate exposure to information about sexuality.

Report from Isha L'Isha: Fighting Against Trafficking and Forced Prostitution in Women

Fund members, 

We thought you may be interested in this report from Isha L'Isha, updating their fine work in social justice and trafficking in Israel.  

They write...

"Dear friends,

We are pleased to share with you Isha L'Isha's recent achievements in the Fighting Against Trafficking and Forced Prostitution in Women. Attached please find an activity report covering the period May 2009 - April 2010.

On this occasion, we would like to thank the donors who have supported this important program and have entrusted us with their funds. Your generous support has enabled us to implement the program in an effective and timely manner.

For further information on our anti-trafficking efforts, you can contact Ms. Rita Chaikin, the project coordinator at rita@isha.org.il
 
Kind regards, Khulud"

Best,
Susan

===================

About Isha L’Isha

Isha L’Isha is a multi-cultural organization and one of the leading voices of women’s rights in Israel, committed to advancing their status, especially of women from socio-economically marginalized communities. Our 26 years of experience in running projects that address women’s needs has earned a national reputation for dedication to women’s rights. Our staff and volunteers are frequently invited to participate in coalition and Parliamentary meetings to provide the input, ideas and know-how that result from our experience. Throughout the years, we have empowered thousands of women and provided them with skills to take control of their lives.

Isha L’Isha’s mission is to advance the status of all women in Israel by: (a) empowering them and encouraging them to become leaders in their communities; (b) campaigning for full civil rights and equal opportunities for women; (c) opposing all forms of violence against women; (d) developing and encouraging new projects to address women's needs, and (e) promoting collaboration between women’s organizations. Our current projects include Fighting against Trafficking in Women for the sex industry, Women, Peace & Security, and Women and Medical Technologies.

Fighting Against Trafficking and Forced Prostitution in Women

The ultimate aim of the project is to end trafficking in women for the sex industry. The project employs multiple strategies for this end: comprehensive education and awareness-raising campaign for sex costumers, potential sex costumers and the wider public, advocacy work in order to secure social, medical and human rights of trafficking victims, empowerment workshops to help victims rehabilitate, legal consultation for victims, and close networking and coalition-building with other NGOs working in the field.

Isha L'Isha has been on the forefront of the fight against trafficking in women since 2002, and has gained extensive professional expertise in the field. In nine years of anti-trafficking work, we have gained experience in sex client education campaigns, public awareness-raising lectures and workshops, advocacy work, networking with NGOs in source countries to help victims in their safe return home, and in organizing multi-national seminars. We work closely with the police, who consult us on a regular basis in international cases. We are also invited on a regular basis to parliamentary meetings to provide our input on all aspects of trafficking.

Project Accomplishments: May 2009 – April 2010


Advocacy

The Knesset (Israeli Parliament) was not active until April 2009 due to the elections. We were very disappointed that Ms. Zehava Galon – head of the Subcommittee on Trafficking in Women – was not elected. Ms Galon always helped us in advancing the issues important to us. The committee is now headed by a new Knesset member from the Kadima party, Orit Zuaretz. We sent her a letter expressing our request that we want to investigate why the police is not active in the field and is not doing anything regarding pimps. We demand that the punishment for pimping in local women be equal to the punishment of traffickers in international cases. The project coordinator, Rita Chaikin, met with Ms. Zuaretz in July and discussed these issues with her.

A legislation proposal was brought to first Knesset reading, which would criminalize sex costumers. Isha L’Isha, along with a number of NGOs, met to discuss the implications of this legislation on women. We also held a panel to which we invited women who work in the sex industry to hear their voices. The women expressed their fears of this law, as it does not provide any protection for women. Should the law pass as it is formulated now, women who work in the sex industry will be even more vulnerable to physical and sexual violence than they already are. Our position on this law is that – alongside criminalizing sex costumers – it has to set provisions of protection of these women. After its first reading, the law was returned for corrections. Isha L’Isha is present at meetings of the Ministry of Justice that discusses this legislation to provide our input from the field. We also formulated a position paper with recommendations for changes in the legislation.

We continue to advocate for greater government responsiveness to the needs of trafficking victims, focusing on their social, economic and health rights. In this regard, we had a major success with the Ministry of Interior whereby they changed a specific requirement regarding the birth certificate of children born to foreign women without status. Indeed we see this as a major accomplishment, as this will affect not only trafficking victims but also migrant workers and/or foreign women giving birth in Israel.

Advocating for policy change in the conduct of the police and their treatment of trafficking victims: a total of 124 complaints were filed to the police during the reporting period. In addition, as part of our efforts to educate professionals and provide them skills in identifying and helping victims of trafficking, the Police Academy near Haifa recognizes the importance of NGO field work, and the cooperation between NGOs and police in the fight against trafficking in women. Rita is invited to lecture at every course of the advanced investigators course. In these lectures, she discusses the psychological aspects of trafficking victims and provides a non-governmental field perspective of the phenomenon.

A tour to the sex-industry areas in Tel Aviv for Members of Knesset to understand the issues and get first-hand experience.

We continue to advocate at the National Insurance Institute to demand that foreign women receive financial allocations for their children. Here, again, we were successful in establishing precedents whereby a foreign woman receives financial allocations for her children by order of the court. This is a very important development, as it indicates that the state is beginning to recognize these women’s rights.

Direct Intervention

During the reporting period, we helped in 23 cases of compensation payments for women. We connected most of these women to NGOs in their source countries, and they have begun receiving help. Isha L’Isha has developed a special expertise in locating women entitled to compensation and in cooperating with NGOs in the FSU for this specific purpose. The compensation is in criminal cases, and the highest compensation paid in 2009 was 110,000 NIS.

In 2009, the Tel-Aviv central police unit uncovered a major case of trafficking in women, and our organization took an active part in accompanying the victims and helping them emotionally. The case received wide media coverage.

We have been successful in obtaining a “green-lane” at the Department for Legal Aid, where the women we refer for legal aid do not have to go through all the bureaucratic process nor wait for their turn, but rather are immediately served.

Participation in site-visits to sex-industry areas and provide initial help to victims: our veteran volunteers join the weekly tours of sex-industry areas, which are conducted by the new government project “Women’s Horizon,” with which we fully cooperate. Our trained volunteers contribute from their extensive experience in working with women victims of trafficking. This cooperation has proven very successful in terms of pooling resources, as the “Women’s Horizon” provides the funding and the new volunteers for these tours, and Isha L’Isha provides the trained volunteers who guide the new ones. We hope to continue cooperating with this important government-funded initiative.

We continue to provide a telephone support line to victims and referring them to the relevant bodies according to the individual women’s needs and situation. The total number of calls during the reporting period was 520, which includes both first-time and second-time callers.

Providing an Emergency Humanitarian Fund for victims of sexual exploitation. The fund covers a range of essential and immediate needs and services, such as initial money for reintegration into the community, psychological treatment, medical treatment, medical insurance, medicine, and more.

Art Therapy Group for Victims of Trafficking and Forced Prostitution

In full cooperation with “Women’s Horizon,” a project for women in prostitution run by the Municipality of Haifa, we held a unique art-therapy course for victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation. In this 12-session course, we saw women rehabilitating through art work. We focused on a group of women who are still in prostitution but who want to leave it and are in need of help. Throughout this course we’ve seen the creation of a new language – the language of art – of women in distress. The facilitator of this course, Ms. Tsipa Ziskind, and the project coordinator, Ms. Rita Chaikin, were amazed to see the strong will and determination of participating women to create and talk through their art. Their art helped us understand the different emotional stages of the women as well as identify their different needs. The course was very successful and, as one of the women said, “You brought me back to life, to something I never had in my childhood. Today I allow myself to be in my own world and to create. This is my place of calm, a world in which I feel safe.”

Empowerment course for mothers who are victims of trafficking and sexual exploitation

This course was held in cooperation with Itach – Maaki: Women Lawyers for Social Justice. The workshops provide mothers with tools to create a warm, supportive environment for the sound development of the child, listening to the child, feelings of belonging to a family, encouraging the child’s self-expression, and more. These courses are especially important for victims of sexual exploitation, as many of these women suffered from a difficult and abusive childhood without positive parental role models. Thus, they are unable to give their children the love and support they themselves did not receive. It is important to relate to these difficulties so each woman can find the power in herself to provide this support to her own child.

Empowerment and basic life skills course

A third course that began in 2010 for victims of trafficking and forced prostitution is an empowerment course that provides basic life skills for participating women. The contents of the course are designed in a modular way, enabling the facilitator to adapt them to the specific needs that arise throughout the course. The issues in this course include: life purpose and vision; internal and external constraints on the way to attaining goals; personal strengths and abilities that help in overcoming obstacles; defining the terms “self-respect”; doubts and dilemmas – internal conflicts; responsibility and decision-making in life; money, income, expenses, and responsibility; sources of conflicts and solutions; coping with unwanted reality; interpersonal authorities and boundaries and the relationship between them; sources of violence; consultation and seeking for help (internal obstacles for seeking help); from power struggle to cooperation; encouragement as a basis for developing self-confidence and self-worth; coping with stress.

Education

We continue with our education campaign, holding lectures and workshops to various groups of population. A total of 25 lectures and workshops were held to 879 participants during the reporting period. Each workshop and lecture is especially designed for the specific target population. Participating groups include: high school girls, groups of women, social work students, graduate students of law, police officers and the wider public.


Consultation

During the reporting period, we continued to provide professional consultation to various governmental and non-governmental bodies and projects on various aspects of the phenomenon of trafficking and prostitution in women both locally and globally.

The project coordinator, Ms Rita Chaikin, met with NGO representatives – both local and international – and discussed Isha L’Isha’s experience in education campaigns for sex consumers. She provided professional consultation to a number of small projects on how to implement effective advocacy strategies in order to change governmental policies.

Representatives from La Strada Ukraine and La Strada Moldova visited our center and we exchanged experience and knowledge with them. In addition to the phenomenon of trafficking, they were interested also in the broader issue of violence against women.

This year, we are providing ongoing consultation to the “Women's Horizon,” part of a comprehensive project of the inter-ministerial plan to help women out of forced prostitution, with which we have also established very good working relations.

We have consolidated good relations with both the Haifa and Tel Aviv sex clinics. In Haifa, a new project was recently initiated: a mobile unit for treating STDs for at-risk women. We are happy to note that we received a permit to conduct the guidance and training on everything that is related to forced prostitution to the whole staff of this mobile unit.

Knowledge Exchange Trip to Georgia

In July 2009, Rita Chaikin and one of the project volunteers, Olga Medvedovskaja were invited by the Women’s Cultural-Humanitarian Fund Sukhumi to Kutaisi, Georgia. They were asked to talk about the activities of Israeli women's organizations addressing women’s rights in a spectrum of different aspects of life, and about their struggle to end violence against women. During their visit, Rita and Olga shared their experience, and spoke about the history of the struggle for the recognition of women's rights in Israel. In particular, Rita and Olga addressed the following issues:

The change in attitude in Israel towards the phenomenon of trafficking in women, and the way NGOs influence and shape policies;

How to fight for women's rights;

The development of various projects and ideological movements aimed at changing current laws and regulations;

Methods of working with governmental organizations and entities;

External sources of influence on the public system;

The contradictions and difficult aspects of the relationships between governmental and non-governmental organizations, and their impact on cooperation;

Working with a coalition of non-governmental organizations;

Lobbying in the Parliament and working within the legal system;

Monitoring the implementation of laws and regulations, and

Networking and working with the media.

Uzbekistan Consultation

We are happy to share with you this important trip, as it constitutes part of our ongoing network of consultation. Similar to the trip to Georgia, Rita was invited to provide consultation and share her knowledge and experience in the field of trafficking in women for the sex industry and effective advocacy work to change policies. She met with about 30 representatives of 10 NGOs from the Istiqbolli Avlod Network, where she discussed effective strategies in work with both governmental and non-governmental bodies, dilemmas and working with women victims of trafficking as a marginalized group.


International Workshop on Preventing Trafficking in Human Beings

This international seminar, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel’s National Agency for International Cooperation – MASHAV, in cooperation with International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Center for International Migration and Immigration (CIMI), was held in May. Rita was invited to speak at a panel on “How to Prevent Migrants Becoming Vulnerable to Exploitation and Trafficking Once in Destination Country.” The audience included representatives from NGOs and governmental bodies from different countries.

Seminar: Invisible Women – Women and Girls in Prostitution

The seminar, held in November 2009, was organized in cooperation with “Women’s Horizon” and attended by more than 160 people, most of them social workers and professionals who are engaged in providing assistance to women and girls in forced prostitution. The aim of the seminar was to raise awareness of the fact that women in prostitution have unique needs and to discuss possible ways of dealing with their problems and helping them leave prostitution. This need arose from discussions with the women themselves, where they related that the assistance they received from the welfare departments was not suited or adopted to their specific needs. The seminar further dealt with dilemmas social workers and other professionals deal with when working with women in prostitution. In her opening remarks, Dr. Sarai Aharoni, a board member of Isha L’Isha, stressed the connections between capitalism, forced prostitution and trafficking in women for the sex industry. The seminar was the first of its kind to be held in the North of Israel, and the number of people attending indicates that there is both an interest as well as a need for such a seminar. We received very positive feedback from seminar participants, and we are planning a similar seminar in the upcoming months for professionals from the Tel Aviv area.

Article: Immigration, Women and Prostitution: the Case of Women from the Former Soviet Union in Israel

Rita Chaikin and Dr. Hannah Safran, a feminist researcher who is also a member of Isha L’Isha, wrote an article for a book which will include articles from around the world about prostitution. The name of the book: The Prostitution of Women, Men & Children: A Global Perspective Implications for Research, Policy, Education, and Service. Our article deals with the prostitution of immigrant women from the FSU, and delineates the cultural, social and economic factors alongside difficult adaptation patterns into the new country that played major roles in the deterioration of women into prostitution.

A Woman of Peace Award

We are excited to share with you that at the close of 2009 Rita, the project coordinator, received a Woman of Peace Award from the Women’s Peacepower Foundation for her work. The foundation makes awards to grassroots projects around the world that are working to impact issues of violence against women and their children.

Rita was also nominated for the International Woman of Courage Award which is awarded by the US Department of State, for courage and leadership in advocating for women’s rights and unparalleled commitment to seeking justice for victims of trafficking in persons.

A word from Ms. Rita Chaikin, the project coordinator: Compensation for trafficking victims on a criminal base

“In May 2009, and after a whole year of search, I finally succeeded in locating M from Moldova, who had been trafficked to Israel for purposes of sexual exploitation. M had suffered a very harsh abuse in Israel, and during her testimony she was kidnapped and sent back to Moldova under life threats. The court of law ordered her trafficker to pay a sum of 7,000 NIS to M and her friends. After a number of years, the trafficker suddenly paid his fine. As soon as I found M’s phone number I called her and told her the news that there is compensation money waiting for her and that we can help her receive this money. M’s reaction was very emotional: she did not want anything to do with her trafficker, not even compensation money. I felt that she didn’t believe me and that she was even scared of me. I asked her to think about it before she signs a concession letter, saved her phone number and decided to think about what I want to do.

The following day, I called M again, and after a long conversation, I succeeded in gaining her trust. We contacted our partner IOM in Moldova, who were willing to provide her with the necessary assistance even though five years have passed since the case. They integrated her into a rehabilitation and professional training program in order to prevent her from searching for a “tempting” job abroad under uncertain conditions. Today, M is a mother to a child, lives in Moldova and is unemployed. Soon she will be receiving $ 1,700 that will give her hope and opportunity to begin a new life, and even acquire a profession or higher education.

This year, within the framework of the Fighting against Trafficking and Prostitution in Women, we dealt with 12 cases of compensation for trafficking victims. Since 2002, we helped 52 trafficked women receive compensation. The process of obtaining compensation money is very complex, and sometimes we are unable to locate the entitled women. Some of these women were trafficked in 2002 and were deported, and there is no hint as to her location. In other cases, the women themselves are not willing to receive any money from their traffickers or they do not believe or trust us, as was the initial case with M.

We believe that compensation money will prevent trafficking victims from travelling abroad and falling for suspicious tempting jobs. The compensation money enables them to begin a new life in their own community and to live in dignity.

We would not have been able to help victims receive compensation without our partner organizations in the Former Soviet Union who help us and are willing to sign a power of attorney or identify a trafficking victim. We wish to thank the IOM branches in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Belarus, local NGOs in Ukraine, ISTIQBOLLI AVLOD - an NGO network in Uzbekistan, the Angel Coalition in Moscow, and WINROCK Khabarovsk and other organizations, all of whom are involved in helping trafficked women receive their compensation and make great efforts in their work. Without their help and fruitful cooperation, we would not succeed in this important work.”

Of course, all of these activities would be impossible to implement without the support of our funders. We would like to take this opportunity to express our thanks and appreciation to the foundations and individuals for their trust in our work.

Boston Partnership Makes the Mikveh a Safer Sanctuary for Victims of Abuse

Carol Targum sent us this note and link to an article in Jewish Women's International about Embracing Waters.  The story mentions our BJCWF grant to Mayyim Hayyim.  The full text of the article is here, and the article can be found at www.jwi.org/Page.aspx?pid=1486.

Rabbi Margaret Frisch Klein, volunteer mikveh guide, Mayyim Hayyim; Janet Yassen, LICSW, Embracing Waters; Julie Youdovin, Outreach and Program Coordinator at Journey to Safety, the domestic abuse program at Jewish Family & Children's Service, Greater Boston

This past year, Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Paula Brody & Family Education Center, together with Journey to Safety (formerly Kol Isha), the domestic abuse program at Jewish Family & Children’s Service in Greater Boston, renewed an ongoing partnership to bring support, help, and healing to Jewish survivors of domestic abuse.  

Thanks to a generous grant from the Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund, Mayyim Hayyim and Journey to Safety have been able to take their ongoing partnership to a new level. Mayyim Hayyim’s initiative, called Embracing Waters, set out a plan to host a Journey to Safety support group, and also to train male and female mikveh guides on issues related to trauma and domestic abuse. Guides explored issues of confidentiality and privacy for immersees, and looked at some of the cultural and religious context that fuels denial and silence around domestic abuse in the Jewish community.  Over the course of five hours of training, guides were taught how to recognize signs of trauma and abuse and then spent time exploring ways to respond effectively and refer gently and respectfully.  

Embracing Waters is part of a larger organization-wide focus on supporting victims & survivors of abuse. Mayyim Hayyim has also run a training for its staff and board to make sure that everyone is working together on these important initiatives. To that end, Mayyim Hayyim will be disseminating its materials nationally in the fall so that other communities can take advantage of the resources Mayyim Hayyim has developed.

This collaboration continues into the spring, with an Embracing Waters workshop for therapists on the therapeutic uses of mikveh for coping with abuse and trauma. Through a collaboration with Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, therapists will be able to earn Continuing Education Credits while examining topics such as the cultural context of abuse in the Jewish community, uses of mikveh for traditional and contemporary purposes, and mikveh as a therapeutic resource.  
 
Looking ahead, the Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund has enthusiastically agreed to support the collaboration for a second year.  In the fall, Mayyim Hayyim will host an international mikveh conference here in Boston. The conference will include a breakout session on making mikveh more welcoming and more accessible to survivors of domestic abuse and to breast cancer survivors.

This strong partnership between Mayyim Hayyim and Journey to Safety is an exciting new direction for collaboration in greater Boston, creating yet another opportunity for Jewish survivors of abuse to find support, help, hope, and paths to healing from within our tradition and our community.  

UN Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women re-elects Rackman Center Leader

Fund Members, 

I’m happy to share this nice news with you.  Prof. Halperin Kaddari is a very dynamic advocate, who has been a notably effective leader of The Rackman Center.  Carol Goldberg met with her when she was in Boston about two years ago and called her a dynamo.

We have just funded the Rackman Center for the third year, to support advocacy for women’s rights and legal status as well as the hotline that provides legal advice on work-related issues.

What a powerful reinforcement for our commitment to advocacy on behalf of women and girls in Israel!

All the best,

Susan

Professor Ruth Halperin Kaddari, Director of The Rackman Center at Bar Ilan University has been re-elected Vice President of this important United Nations committee.  The Rackman Center is a three-time Women’s Fund grantee for its trailblazing work in advocacy for Israeli women in divorce and family law issues in the Rabbinical Courts.  

The official news release follows:

“We are thrilled to share this impressive news with you. As you know, Prof Halperin Kaddari was elected in 2009 as Vice-President of the UN experts Committee for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), after serving for the first two years of her term as a member of CEDAW. As the re-election time approached there was concern that recent events in Israel may impede the prospects for re-election. However, her accomplishments over the last years and her professional reputation have surpassed any political barriers, giving her 103 votes in the UN last night. We are so proud of her achievement, both for The Rackman Center and for all of Israel - to know that we are being represented at such a high level in such an important arena.

We wish her a hearty mazol tov and look forward to updating you on her progress in making social change for women.

Best wishes from everyone at the Rackman Center.”

Embracing Waters Sculptural Bench Project at Mayyim Hayyim

Just an update on the good work being done by one of our star grantee organizations, Mayyim Hayyim.

Julie Jaye and Ellyn Harmon at work on a bench being created for Embracing Waters, at Mayyim Hayyim.  The story behind this remarkable project can be found here!

Now in its second year, this specialized program trains volunteers, clergy and health and mental health professionals to help them recognize victims of abuse and show how mikveh can be a source of spiritual healing for abuse survivors.

For more information on Mayyim Hayyim visit their website at www.mayyimhayyim.org or click here.

A Survivor's Story from Mayyim Hayyim

As we begin the second year of funding the Embracing Waters project, designed to support women who have been affected by domestic and/or relationship abuse, here is a story that Mayyim Hayyim director Aliza Kline recently shared with us.

"Hi Susan,

I wanted to share with you the story of a woman who immersed at Mayyim Hayyim one night this week:

"Marci" came here from out of town after having recently been sexually assaulted by someone who was a good friend of hers.  Her mother, not knowing anything about us, suggested that perhaps she might use the mikveh for healing.  She went online, came across our website, and scheduled a flight for her journey of 500 miles.

She also used the opportunity to reconnect with a friend of hers, a rabbi, whom she had not seen in years.

After sharing our ceremonies and resources, and placing her in the supportive care of one of our Mikveh Guides, she emerged from the water and said, "I didn't think it would happen, but it worked."

She then wrote the following in our guest book:

"Thank you for having a place like this - where safety and warmth radiate from the moment the door is opened, where compassion, patience, and understanding reign, where we may come to be made whole and know that our style and healing are respected.  Thank you also for the care that has been evident throughout, from first contact to the last bite of strawberry.  Leeann (her Mikveh Guide), Carrie, Anita - you are a blessing, and I hope the living waters will continue to strengthen you as you strengthen us."

Thank you for your partnership in welcoming and supporting women like Marci."

Clearly, the work that we do through the BJCWF has impact and meaning locally, nationally, and internationally.  Stories like this only serve to validate our mission and and to highlight the results of our ongoing group efforts.  Thank you each and every fund member for your contributions.

Taking action on a critical issue of key importance to BJCWF

Our mentor Nancy Sternoff has just circulated the memo that follows. In the spirit of the grants we have made to fight trafficking and exploitation, please read it and take action.
 

"Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Please read carefully the email below. I hope you will both institutionally and personally take action. You may or may not know that Israel has one of the highest rates of sex trafficking per capita in the world. Let's join with the broader women's community to help!

Best to all,

Nancy"
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Deborah Richardson [mailto:drichardson@womensfundingnetwork.org]
Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 1:46 PM
To: Deborah Richardson
Subject: Call to Action-Women's Funds Advocacy needed to help stop the commercial exploitation of girls!

Dear Sister Fund Leaders,

I'm writing to update you on several critical activities related to Women's Funding Network's efforts to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) - with a primary focus on adolescent girls - and to urge you to take action.

As many of you may know, we have partnered with AFNAP Georgia and member funds to pilot and strategically fund programs dealing with CSEC in Michigan, Minnesota and New York. We have launched an AFNAP website and supported research in these states to understand the prevalence of CSEC - and how the numbers relate to adolescent girls - and have trained member fund and community leaders on effective strategies for approaching the issue in their communities.

We are also partnering with a public relations firm to release findings from a cutting-edge market demand study that shows that men who buy sex from minor girls in Georgia do so at disturbing rates with alarming comfort and ease. We are hoping to get broad media coverage on the demand study and expect to have and release national numbers over the next three months.

All of these activities are taking place in a broader climate of increased public interest in CSEC. In the last few weeks alone, there have been multiple media placements on the issue including stories in the New York Times and on ABC News. Most recently, the Atlanta Journal Constitution published an op-ed I co-authored that presents a new approach to preventing the commercial sexual exploitation of our girls.

Rather than continuing to swim upstream, Women's Funding Network and members of a national CSEC coalition are working to shift the focus from the girl survivors to the commercial offenders and businesses like Craigslist who feed the demand side of this thriving industry that puts our girls at risk.

With national partners like Polaris Project, Shared Hope International and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, we are poised to "seize the moment" and will use this window of opportunity to build a zero-tolerance zone across the United States for buying and selling sex from children.

As part of this effort, we are launching a petition on the AFNAP website, that calls on Craigslist, a company reported to be making a $40 million profit off of their adult service section - that includes postings for minor girls, to take immediate measures to prevent the commercial sexual exploitation of our children on their site.

What can you do?

1. Internally: Boycott Craigslist. Until Craigslist makes appropriate changes to protect sexually exploited girls, please don't use their services.

2. Externally: Take Action. After you sign our Craigslist petition, urge your community members, grantee partners and supporters to do the same. Here is a link to an action alert that you may forward.

Thank you in advance for taking action. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. If you would like to learn more about how to bring AFNAP to your community, please let me know or complete our online form at the bottom of the Take Action page.

On behalf of the girls whom we are advocating for, I thank you.

Deborah Richardson
Deborah Richardson | Women's Funding Network | Chief Program Officer | 505 Sansome 2nd Floor | San Francisco CA, 94111 | T: 415-441-0706 x293 | F: 415-441-0827

Violence Claims Young Women Like-and Unlike-Lacrosse Star Every Day

Please check out this column concerning a topic very near and dear to the fund - domestic violence - written by Patricia Eng of the Ms. Foundation. Her words only emphasize the importance of our shared work and priorities. The article was originally published on the Ms. Foundation For Women Igniting Change Blog.

At the University of Virginia, students are being taught a very personal lesson these days about the prevalence of domestic violence and its impact on communities across the United States.

Yeardley Love was, until her death earlier this week at the age of 22, a senior at the university and a much-loved member of UVA's women's lacrosse team. Her ex-boyfriend, George Huguely, was a lacrosse player too -- one with a history of "run-ins" with the law. According to the NY Times, Huguely now admits that, early this past Monday morning, he "kicked his foot through [Love's] bedroom door and forced his way in." Once inside, court papers show, Huguely attacked Love, shaking her to the point that "her head repeatedly hit the wall," and causing her to die.

There is no getting around the fact that Yeardley Love's death at the hands of a man she once trusted is a nearly unspeakable tragedy -- for her family, her friends, and for her entire community. But the even greater tragedy is that Yeardley Love is hardly unique in the circumstances that brought about her death. She is one among thousands -- if not millions.

In the U.S. alone, 3 women die every day at the hands of their intimate partners. 1.3 million American women are victims of physical assault by their partners each year. And in 70–80 percent of intimate partner homicides, research shows that the male partner had physically abused the woman before the murder. What's more, it is no accident that the stories we hear involve younger and younger generations. Approximately one in three adolescent girls in the U.S. is a victim of physical, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner -- a figure that far exceeds victimization rates for other types of violence affecting youth.

The media has catapulted the Love-Huguely case to the headlines because, from the outside, this couple looks like everything the dirty secret of domestic abuse is supposedly not: young, beautiful, educated, athletic, successful and white. That this seemingly bright young man should perpetrate a set of acts so heinous, shakes our collective fantasy about where violence against women lives, and where we pretend it does not.

The reality, as the students at UVA are learning, is that it lives everywhere. On the same day that Yeardley Love died, two other women also lost their lives at the hands of an intimate partner. Who were they? What were the circumstances of their lives? What about the three women who will die today…and tomorrow? Imagine what the impact on our society would be if, each day, our morning papers forced us to confront the names and faces of the people just lost to intimate partner violence. Imagine the shock we’d feel. Imagine how our commitment to violence prevention would grow.

As one of the very first funders of domestic violence shelters in the U.S., we at the Ms. Foundation know how crucial raising awareness is to bringing an end to any problem. And how critical it is to prioritize prevention and stop the violence before it starts, at long last. (See Young Women's Action Team and Close to Home for great examples of community-based, violence-prevention organizations.) That much, at least, we owe to Yeardley Love -- and to the thousands of women who died before her, whose names we may not know, but who mattered just as much.

Patricia Eng
Vice President, Program

Celebrating 10 Years of Impact and Achievement

The Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund celebrates ten years of...

IMPACT AND ACHIEVEMENT

Tuesday, June 1, 2010
6:00 p.m.
Private home, directions will be sent upon RSVP
Dinner will be served
Dietary laws will be observed
RSVP by May 15 to Hannahg@cjp.org or 617-457-8591

Here’s how we measure success!

• $1.65 million granted
• 175 women debating, discussing, learning, forging friendships — changing lives
• 106 grants to 52 programs to benefit other women and girls
• Thousands of lives touched and changed

The mission of the Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund is to develop a women’s Jewish philanthropic community which provides sustainable and measurable benefits to women and girls from all walks of life, and in the process, encourages the funders to be leaders and role models.

BJCWF 2010 Grant Awards

Boston Jewish Women’s Fund Awards $276,450 to 20 Groups for 2010!

For some women, it will open the path to financial literacy, skills training, and a way to support their families. For others it will mean counseling and a way out of an abusive relationship. Some girls it will find a way to express themselves through art, design or poetry. Others will find new meaning in their own family histories as they prepare for Bat Mitvah.

The Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund grants for 2010 range across a gamut of needs – girls’ healthy development, issues of aging, employment, women’s rights in Israel’s religious courts and more. Awards ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 have been given to 20 groups in Boston and Israel for innovative and established programs.

Here is a complete list of our 2010 grantees.

GRANTS TO JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS IN BOSTON

Multi-year grant (totaling $75,000) (2009 grant - $40,000)

Jewish Women’s Archive - second year $20,000
Project: Bat Mitzvah Interactive (BMI)

JWA continues to develop this new online initiative designed to bring fresh meaning, relevance and inspiration to the Bat Mitzvah experience for girls and their families. By weaving together the strands of community service, family stories and Jewish women’s history, the program invites girls to explore the stories of Jewish women in America and in their own families, and to make connections between traditions and values and their own emerging identities. In the first year of Women’s Fund support, JWA has expanded the scope of BMI, and laid the groundwork for a program that is national in scope.

NEW

Bais Yaakov of Boston - $9,100
Project: Chayei Hanhigut L’Bnot Torah

Health education, leadership training, nutrition awareness and physical education programming designed to promote healthy self-images and personal confidence in adolescent girls at a traditional girls’ high school.

Jewish Family Service of Metrowest - $10,000
Project: Taking Charge, Making Changes

Enhanced financial literacy and career development are the primary goals of this new program which focuses on women suddenly assuming “head of household” duties (single, separated/divorced, widowed) in the ongoing financial crisis. Two senior staff members will be trained as Accredited Financial Counselors to build their skills, and the balance of funding will support implementation of the program.

Jewish Vocational Service - $15,000
Project: We’re All in This Together

An initiative of JVS Career Moves, the program will engage economically vulnerable women in group and individual activities to help them develop the job search skills, networking ability and confidence to break into the workforce. Four Success Teams, professionally-led peer support groups, will be organized at JVS offices in Boston and Newton and local synagogues to address the needs of single women who have lost jobs, older women unexpectedly entering the workforce, and new college graduates.

Second year funding

Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly - $18,000
Project: Mental Health Initiative
(2009 grant: $25,000)

Because they may be unable to adequately care for themselves and their apartments, tenants with mental illness or memory impairment may jeopardize their tenancy. They may also demand inordinate amounts of staff time and disturb neighbors. The project, in partnership with Jewish Family & Children’s Service, trains JCHE staff, from maintenance and office workers to resident managers, to recognize and deal with potentially challenging situations, and ensure the safety of residents.

Mayyim Hayyim - $14,350
Project: Embracing Waters
(2009 grant: $17,500)

Training for Mayyim Hayyim volunteers, clergy and health and mental health professionals to help them recognize victims of abuse and show how mikveh can be a source of spiritual healing for abuse survivors. The program is conducted in partnership with Journey to Safety at Jewish Family & Children’s Service.

Moving Traditions - $8,000
Project: Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing!
(2009 grant: $25,000)

This national program which first came to Greater Boston last year, promotes self-esteem, leadership skills and Jewish identity in girls grades 6 – 12. The 5 year curriculum is based in the Rosh Hodesh (new moon) holiday. Facilitators are trained by the national organization. The program is being implemented in synagogues in the community.

Fifth year funding

Jewish Family & Children’s Service - $18,000
Project: Journey to Safety
(2005 – 2008 grants: $25,000 annually)

Domestic abuse occurs at exactly the same rate across all populations. Jewish women stay in abusive relationships two to three times longer than women in the general population (7-15 years vs. 3-5 years). Journey to Safety, formerly called Kol Isha, is the domestic abuse program at JF&CS. It has a dual mission of providing direct services to survivors of domestic abuse and raising awareness about domestic abuse in order to promote healthy and safe intimate relationships. The importance of the issue continues to motivate Fund members to maintain support for the program.

GRANTS TO SECULAR ORGANIZATIONS IN BOSTON

NEW

Brookline Mental Health Center - $14,000
Project: Project GROW

Project GROW (Girls’ Relationships Offer Well-Being) is a preventative group mentoring initiative that focuses on 60 girls ages 8 to 16 from underserved populations who are at risk for bullying due to social isolation. This includes Asian American, African American, and Latina girls, as well as some Caucasian girls, with primary emphasis on low and moderate-income families living in Brookline and Boston. Some have recently immigrated to the US, and others have been adopted; all are challenged with fitting in. Project GROW specifically targets issues that impede a girl's potential for success and emotional well being, such as racism, gender bias, and girl bullying.

Haley House - $10,000
Project: Take Back the Kitchen

Take Back the Kitchen is a cooking, nutrition and healthy lifestyle program for at risk youth and their families. Our funding will support the launch of all-girls programming with the goal of improving health and well-being. Haley House and its community programs are committed to promoting health through offering whole grain foods, fresh produce, and unprocessed foods, and helping participants gain the skills and knowledge to incorporate them into their meals at home.
Third year funding

Adolescent Consultation Services - $5,000
Project: Specialized Girls Group Treatment Program
(2009 grant: $5,000; 2008: $5,000)

Run through the Cambridge Juvenile Court Clinic, the program serves court-involved girls. Attendance and participation are conditions of each girl’s probation. This program is designed to advance the healthy development of girls by equipping them with valuable coping skills. The psycho-educational treatment groups address a variety of issues, including: healthy relationships with partners, family, and friends; body image; dealing with difficult living situations; and the impact of zero tolerance, racism, and sexism.

RAW - $10,000
Project: Art 4 Girls/Women 2 Be/Project Launch
(2009 grant: $10,000; 2008: $10,000)

RAW’s continuum of girl-only programs serves young women in Lynn, Massachusetts, an economically challenged city where many children lack the basic resources, security, and support to enable their healthy development. Over 98% of RAW’s seniors graduate from high school and 90% of RAW’s high school seniors have gone to college, aided by mentors in Project Launch.

Victim Rights Law Center - $20,000
Project: Girls Rape Survivors Law Project (GRSLP)
(2009 grant: $15,000; 2008: $20,000)

This initiative addresses the needs of young victims and potential victims of rape and sexual assault in the Greater Boston area. Funds will enable the Victim Rights Law Center to make the existing GRSLP curriculum and direct services more available to girls under the age of 13, a group not covered under existing federal funding regulations.

Fourth year funding

Recognizing the funding challenges that many service organizations are facing this year, The Fund invited several long-term grantees to apply for an unprecedented fourth year of support for 2010-2011. Grants were reviewed within our regular competitive process, and two grants were awarded, both focused on core services.

Bird Street - $13,000
Project: The S Group (Smart, Savvy, Secure and Self Sufficient)
(2009 grant: $20,000; 2008: $19,000; 2007: $25,000)

This program for girls and young women, combines the skills, passion, and interests of Bird Street’s girls with information, experiences, and tools that they can use in their daily lives to prepare for success at school, college, within their families, and in the workforce. “The S Group” brings girls to Bird Street with a goal of guiding them towards appropriate gender sensitive and gender specific programs focusing on academic achievement, physical health, mental health and leadership development.

Project Hope - $10,000
Project: Adult Learner Program (ALP)
(2006 grant: $10,000; 2005: $20,000; 2003: $10,000)

One of Project Hope’s basic programs, the ALP offers 75-80 low income and/or homeless women access to basic education and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses, in combination with empowering foundation classes to promote the women’s learning, self-development, and potential for self-sufficiency.

GRANTS TO PROGRAMS IN ISRAEL

NEW

Leket - $15,000
Project: The Leket Work Program

Leket is a food bank that addresses nutritional insecurity throughout Israel, collecting surplus food and distributing it through the Israel Food Bank. The work program is an agricultural gleaning initiative that collects produce left in fields and orchards at the end of the season’s harvest. It provides 20 seasonal farm laborers, all Arab Israeli women, with fair working conditions including above minimum wages and full benefits. Produce is distributed to needy Israelis through homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, community centers for the elderly and programs for children at risk.

Kol Israel Haverim -- Sha’ar School Network - $15,000
Project: Gateway to Science

The program focuses on high school girls in Bat-Yam, a city in central Israel which has a high immigrant population and significant unemployment. Gateway will offer an intensive and varied science education to eighty girls with the goal of awakening and nurturing an interest in science and helping them break out of the cycle of poverty. Girls in the program will study science throughout high school, and meet with leading women scientists at the Weizmann Institute.

Third year funding

Israel Women’s Network - $15,000
Project: The Advocacy Center
(2007 grant: $15,000; 2009: $14,000)

The hotline at The Advocacy Center responds to women facing gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace, and receives thousands of calls each year. The Center also develops legislation on issues affecting women, consults with members of the Knesset, and provides legal assistance and representation in precedent-setting cases, many of which first come to light through calls to the hotline.

The Rackman Center at Bar Ilan University - $18,000
Project: The Program for Legal Aid, Advocacy and outreach in Family Law and Women’s Rights (2007 grant: $13,500; 2009: $15,000)

The Rackman Center works through Israel’s legal and judicial system to advocate for women in divorce and family law issues in the Rabbinical Courts. The program provides free legal counsel for women in the courts, advances legislation on behalf of women’s rights and advocates for fair election of judges to the Rabbinical Court. Additionally, it trains law students and provides free legal advice through a hotline.

Mahut - $19,000
Project: Advancing Employment for Women Over 40
(2008 grant: $25,000; 2009: $19,000)

Education, training, and placement services for economically marginalized women over the age of 40, in tandem with work with employers to improve their attitudes toward hiring women in this age group. The program also provides ongoing support to women who have completed training and remain in the job market.