JWI on the ground in Grand Rapids, Michigan

By Susan Jerison, Director of Marketing and Communications

On Wednesday, I spent the day in Grand Rapids representing JWI at the opening of our 38th children’s library at Ramoth House, a battered women’s shelter run by Safe Haven Ministries.  I saw the latest of many shelters with a space transformed – a basement corner now filled with bookshelves, a brand new carpet, furniture and rows and rows of books. The shelter has a new space for children to learn and play.  And, as is true in all of our children’s libraries, the residents not only enjoy the space, but know that the Jewish community is helping them in their journey to escape violence and rebuild their lives.  Shelters are often hidden for safety; what a wonderful, gentle way to remind the women that we care about them.

I was welcomed so warmly by the shelter staff and volunteers and had an opportunity to learn about all of Safe Haven’s important programs during lunch with Jill Harkema, Safe Haven’s executive director and Susan Halteman, the director of development.  But the part that was most gratifying was to learn about the impact of JWI’s work.  In addition to the library, Jill expressed her thanks and gratitude for the training webinars offered each month by JWI through the National Alliance to End Domestic Abuse.  The Safe Haven staff often gathers together at their conference table for the webinars to learn about the latest techniques available to domestic violence professionals.  They had implemented recommendations and ideas from our call on domestic violence in the workplace.  Thanks to our action alerts on legislation for government funding for violence prevention, Safe Haven staff reach out to their Congressional representatives to urge their support. The women in the shelter love our Mother’s Day flowers and the OPI packages they receive each year, with plenty of nail polish and beauty products to brighten up Mother Day for the residents.  And all this happens from Washington DC to Michigan, here and at hundreds of domestic violence programs around the country.

Leading the day’s events was Michelle Gilbert, regional public relations manager for Verizon Wireless, who is a wonderful champion of the National Library Initiative.  Michelle took advantage of the new library to organize a press conference to announce Verizon grants to 8 organizations in Western Michigan, including support for the Safe Haven library.  Thanks to Michelle and her counterparts across the country, Verizon has partnered with JWI to open 11 libraries from Richmond, Virginia to Seattle, Washington, with 5 more planned for 2012.  Our Seattle library received Verizon support and was dedicated just the Friday before by JWI board chair, Susan Turnbull, who received equally heartfelt thanks.

Joining me at the dedication was longtime JWI volunteer Eileen Enoch from the Grand Rapids Chapter, a vital presence for JWI locally.  As soon as the dedication came to a close, the children eagerly ran down the basement steps so that they could resume their library activities.  Much of the library furniture and books had arrived just a few days before.  All still present smiled at their excitement and joy.

L-R: Diane Wilson, Executive Director, Project COOL; Betty Jo Ferry, Development Coordinator, Center for Women in Transition; Lucy Joswick, Community Liaison, Family Futures; Michelle Gilbert, public relations manager–Michigan/Indiana/Kentucky Region, Verizon Wireless; Jill Harkema, Executive Director, Safe Haven Ministries; Susan Behrend Jerison, Director of Marketing & Communications, Jewish Women International (JWI); John Lazet, Crime Victims' Advocate, Michigan Attorney General's office; Dave Vehslage State Director - Government & External Affairs,Verizon.

The Cycle of Abuse and Financial Security

By Lauren Levine, Executive Associate

In the domestic violence prevention community, it’s a well-known fact that women are often forced to stay in abusive relationships for financial security. In fact, studies indicate that the best predictor of whether a victim will stay away from her abuser is the victim’s degree of economic independence. Yet, victims also struggle keeping a steady job due to frequent absences for medical attention or legal procedures or even because their abuser actively prevents them from going to work.

To make matters worse, a 2004 report by the National Institute of Justice found that the rate of violence against women increases as male unemployment increases. 4.7% percent of women with employed male partners are abused. When the male experiences one period of unemployment, there’s a 7.5% rate of violence and when the male experiences two or more periods of unemployment, 12.3% of female partners experience violence.

Because of this, women end up in a vicious cycle of being financially independent and in abusive relationships. In many cases for a victim of domestic abuse, unemployment insurance can be the chance she has to have the immediate resources necessary to escape violence. Estimates by Dr. Adriana Kugler, chief economist for the Department of Labor, put the number of women who will be affected by a failure to extend unemployment insurance at 2.2 million women. If one in four women are victims of domestic violence at some point in their life, then as many as 550,000 women could be experiencing domestic violence with no unemployment insurance to help them out of a financially dependent and in abusive relationship should this extension fail. If there is a chance of breaking the cycle of domestic violence, it will not start with a failure to extend unemployment insurance.

This post is part of the #HERvotes blog carnival.

Redefining Rape

By Miri Cypers, Senior Policy and Advocacy Specialist

This week, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) advisory board voted to update its definition of rape for the first time since 1929. The old, narrow definition only counted cases of forcible rape of a women or girl by a male and discounted many instances of sexual assault that fell outside this definition like same-sex sexual assault and the assault of male victims.

As CEO of the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago Christine Bork notes in a piece in Huffington Post, as a result of this archaic definition “…countless cases of sexual assault are excluded from federal statistics each year. The FBI’s antiquated definition of rape underestimates the impact of sexual assault in our community and, in turn, reduces the amount of resources available for survivors.”

Before adopted, the new definition must be approved by FBI Director Robert Mueller. JWI urges the adoption of this new language and hopes you will join our colleagues at the Feminist Majority Foundation if you wish to do the same.

A Matter of Conscience

By Miri Cypers, Senior Policy and Advocacy Specialist

Yesterday, Jewish Women International hosted a Congressional briefing titled “Whose Conscience Matters? When Health Care Exemptions Fail Patients and Health Care Professionals,” along with Catholics for Choice, the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, National Council of Jewish Women, Planned Parenthood Clergy Advisory Board, and the Religious Institute.

Speakers explored the history of conscience clauses and harmful legislation and regulations proposed by Congress and the Administration that would expand these clauses. By expanding refusal clauses to allow health care providers, religious institutions, even pharmacists the ability to deny women abortions, medical referrals, and contraception, the conscience of an individual woman is devalued.

As anti-family planning advocates fight for the expansion of religious exemptions or refusal clauses in everywhere from the new health care reform bill to Congress, please join JWI by staying informed and active and help us raise the voice of the progressive, faith community on this critical issue. We strongly believe that women must be able to make personal health care decisions according to the dictates of their own faith and beliefs- not according to the conscience of others.

L-R, Glenn Northern, Planned Parenthood Clergy Advisory Board; Miri Cypers, Jewish Women International; Amy Cotton, National Council of Jewish Women; Nicolette Paterson, Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice; Sara Hutchinson, Catholics for Choice.

An Inspirational and Uplifting Day

By Lori Weinstein, JWI Executive Director

365 days of the year, JWI is on the front lines of ensuring the physical, emotional and economic safety of women and girls. But on one day we pause to honor the important work of our organization and to celebrate the unique accomplishments and formidable leadership of ten outstanding Jewish women. Yesterday’s Women to Watch event was dazzling. This year’s honorees are a very special group – deeply reflective of the breadth of the Jewish community – underscoring the diverse and beautiful tapestry of successful Jewish women across a myriad of professional, personal and philanthropic interests.

It was an inspirational and uplifting day – and an honor for JWI to convene a group of such amazing talent and leadership. I am always moved by the wisdom and generosity of our honorees and encouraged by the hundreds of women and men who join JWI to celebrate our honorees and to honor the organization’s unwavering commitment to empower women and girls; protecting their fundamental rights to live in safe homes, thrive in healthy relationships and reach the potential of their dreams and aspirations.

From L to R: Ellen Stone; Esther Newman; Abbie Weisberg; Kathy Manning;
Alexis Kashar; Lori Weinstein, JWI Executive Director; Susan Turnbull, Chair, JWI Board of Trustees; Julie Schonfeld; Kim Heiman; Abby Greensfelder; Rynthia Rost. Photo by Michael Kress.

A Big Thank You to Our White House Champions

JWI would like to express our deep thanks to President Obama and Vice President Biden and our wonderful allies in the Administration who continue to express stalwart support for reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) this Congress. On November 30^th, upon the introduction of S. 1925, the VAWA reauthorization bill by Senators Leahy and Crapo, White House Advisor on Violence Against Women Lynn Rosenthal, posted this piece to the White House blog.

In this piece, she calls attention to the pervasive nature of domestic violence in our country and lays out why we need VAWA more than ever. Thank you, White House champions, for your strong commitment and support!

What VAWA Means to Me

By Miri Cypers, Senior Policy and Advocacy Specialist

Yesterday, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID) introduced legislation, that would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) for another 5 years. This big moment, one JWI has been working up to for over two years, gave me some pause: time to think about what this legislation and these issues really mean to me.

I began working at JWI not even six months ago. At the time, my life was a whirlwind. I was weeks away from my wedding and on top of that I had to become an expert on anti-violence policy. I have always cared deeply about issues and legislation affecting women and girls, but I never quite understood the impact of violence against women on all sectors of society.

After six months of working on language, advocacy, and strategy around the reauthorization bill, I recognize that violence against women is a cross-cutting issue affecting every community and every woman in the U.S. and in the world. If we ourselves are not victims of violence or abuse, we know someone who is- a mother, a friend, a sister, or a daughter. After only six months of working on VAWA, I can now say that these issues are ones that I will care about and advocate for my entire life. One in four women in our country will experience violence or abuse in her lifetime, and with this new bill, the number will be a step closer to zero. 

At a recent Congressional briefing JWI organized, one of the speakers on the panel who was a victim of violence talked about her life in the “pre-VAWA world.” She was experiencing physical violence and when she called the police, they walked her abuser around the block for some fresh air and placed him right back on her doorstep, only to terrorize her again. I could not imagine living in the “pre-VAWA world.” For this reason, I work every day at JWI to ensure that every woman in our country can enjoy the security and stability- and I hope you join me. Tweet us, write us on Facebook, and comment on this post on what VAWA means to you.