JWI awarded significant grant to address domestic violence in Philadelphia's Orthodox community
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 13, 2023
CONTACT: Allison Friedman, afriedman@jwi.org
Jewish Women International (JWI) will, in partnership with Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia (JFCS), and Dinah Philadelphia, address domestic and sexual violence in Philadelphia’s Orthodox communities with a significant grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW)
(Washington, D.C.) – JWI, the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls, has been awarded a three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to support new initiatives created in response to gaps identified in its 2021 Needs Assessment of Jewish survivors of domestic violence. Launching in March 2023, this project will, in partnership with Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia (JFCS) and Dinah Philadelphia, connect with local Orthodox leadership to implement programmatic initiatives that reduce the stigma of domestic violence, and increase support for survivors and their children in Greater Philadelphia's Orthodox Jewish community.
This grant, Sh’ma Kolenu: Engaging the Orthodox Jewish Community of Philadelphia in Addressing Domestic Violence will enhance population-specific education, prevention and intervention training and provide mainstream secular service organizations with training that prepares them to offer culturally and religiously competent services for Orthodox Jewish clients in Philadelphia.
Grant projects will include, but are not limited to:
Engaging Orthodox community leadership in all programmatic aspects of the grant
Developing and distributing resources and delivering trainings around domestic violence prevention and response for Orthodox congregational rabbis and female spiritual guides
Providing healthy relationship and abuse prevention workshops for Orthodox Jewish high school and college students
Facilitating workshops for judges and attorneys to increase understanding of Orthodox Jewish victims, and the context around which these cases arise.
Implementing community-wide programs to reduce the stigma of domestic violence in Orthodox families, and increase support for survivors and children
Equipping mainstream providers with workshops and resources on serving Orthodox Jewish victims and understanding Judaism.
Deborah Rosenbloom, JWI's Chief Program Officer said, "We are honored to have been awarded this opportunity from the U.S. Department of Justice to continue to meet the systemic needs of survivors and to support the local Jewish programs that serve them. This grant will be an important expansion of our National Center on Domestic Violence in the Jewish Community, the hub for trauma-informed training and education that was created as a direct response to the unmet needs of survivors found in our Needs Assessment. We hope this new initiative moves the needle in the way the Orthodox community responds to abuse – and ultimately inspires a future where all women and girls can live safely and thrive."
“As an organization dedicated to eradicating domestic abuse in the Jewish community of Philadelphia through advocacy, education, and legal representation, we are ever-grateful to be a partner on this monumental grant! We are particularly excited to work with JWI and JFCS Philly to provide much-needed cultural competency and trauma informed service delivery training to attorneys and judges in the greater Philadelphia area. As some Orthodox Jews are distrustful of the civil legal system, increasing the availability of culturally competent representation is vitally important. Similarly, because the mores and practices of Orthodox Jews differ from those of secular communities, judges will benefit from understanding the cultural context in which domestic abuse may occur.” said Rachel Yakobashvili, Director of Programs & Partnerships, Dinah
Paula Goldstein, President and CEO of Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia (JFCS) said, “As an agency that is committed to meeting the unique needs of the various populations we serve, our Orthodox program provides culturally sensitive services to the wider Philadelphia Orthodox Jewish community. Central to these services is maternal mental health and the needs of women and families within this community. This grant from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women will allow JFCS to deepen these services and provide specific supports to individuals experiencing or working to leave intimate partner violence.”
About Jewish Women International (JWI)
JWI is the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls domestically and internationally. JWI's National Center on Domestic & Sexual Violence in the Jewish Community is the hub of resources, trainings, and research to support the field. It convenes The Collaborative, the network of all Jewish domestic violence agencies in the U.S. and established and hosts the Interfaith Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and the Clergy Task Force to End Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community. A Steering Committee member of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, JWI’s advocacy efforts focus on the passage of legislation that supports women and girls, ensures their economic security, and protects their right to live free of violence. www.jwi.org