JWI honored to be awarded grants from the U.S. Dep't of Justice to support domestic violence prevention
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 10, 2023
CONTACT: Allison Friedman, afriedman@jwi.org
Jewish Women International (JWI) awarded two significant grants from the U.S. Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) to address domestic and sexual violence in faith communities
(Washington, D.C.) – Jewish Women International (JWI), the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls, has been awarded two multi-year grants, totaling more than $700,000, 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, the work will engage clergy, congregants, educators, service providers, and communal organizations in a survivor-centered and trauma-informed response to abuse in faith communities.
Through the "Training and Technical Assistance for Engaging Men and Boys in Faith Communities" grant, JWI will create a technical assistance consortium with faith-based partner organizations to help OVW grantees develop understanding, tools, and programming to engage men and boys of faith in preventing domestic and sexual violence and stalking. With this grant, JWI has been identified by OVW as the leader in work supporting the unique needs of survivors of faith. JWI will train professionals in the violence prevention and response field to create critically important culturally competent prevention programming to engage men and boys of faith.
The "Engaging the Orthodox Jewish Community of Philadelphia in Addressing Domestic Violence" grant will, in partnership with Jewish Family and Children's Service of Greater Philadelphia (JFCS) and Dinah Philadelphia, work closely with local Orthodox leadership to implement prevention and response trainings that reduce the stigma of domestic violence, and increase support for survivors and their children in Greater Philadelphia's Orthodox Jewish community.
Deborah Rosenbloom, JWI's Chief Program Officer says,
"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. These grants 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. Our training and technical assistance grant will broaden JWI's long standing work engaging men and boys as allies, and uniting the collective visions of faith communities to cultivate a culture of respect and true gender equity. We hope these new initiatives move the needle in the way the Orthodox community and faith-based communities prevent and respond to abuse – and ultimately inspire a future where all women and girls can live safely and thrive."
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