Israel Women's Network
| Formation | 1984 |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To achieve long-term systematic change regarding women’s rights in Israel. |
| Headquarters | Ramat Gan, Israel |
|
Chairwoman
|
Yafa Vigodsky |
|
Key people
|
Dr. Michal Sela, Executive Director |
| Website | http://www.iwn.org.il/ |
Israel Women’s Network (IWN) is a feminist non-partisan civil society organization founded in Jerusalem in 1984. IWN’s mission is to advance the status of women in Israel by promoting equality through a range of projects and methods.
IWN was founded in 1984 as a result of a conference held in Jerusalem by the Jewish-American Congress. The four-day conference, headed by Betty Friedan, was titled "Woman as Jew, Jew as Woman: An Urgent Inquiry." The participants compiled a list of demands for legislative changes which would improve the social and political standing of women in Israel and the American Jewish diaspora. These demands were successfully presented to the heads of the Labor Party and the Likud Party, thus initiating the formation of a non-partisan organization that would focus on advancing the status of women through education, legislation and advocacy. Alice Shalvi, one of the founders of the IWN, was chairperson of the organization. The founders heldng public meetings across Israel to raise awareness about women’s issues and to determine the primary obstacles concerning Israel’s female population. These meetings attracted large audiences, and shed light on issues of which very few women at the time were aware. These topics included: women’s health, equality in the workplace and equal opportunity, the portrayal of women in the media, lack of representation in the government, and women’s status in the rabbinical courts and in family law in general.
IWN gained recognition as Israel’s major advocacy group for women's rights. Meetings with Knesset members to establish collaboration on women’s issues became a common occurrence, which led to the unprecedented authoring of new legislation regarding women passed by Knesset, such as the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law and the Prevention of Family Violence Law. Additionally, IWN promoted and succeeded in establishing the parliamentary Committee for the Advancement of Women as an official Knesset committee.
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