jewish women international

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Activity 1: What is bullying and why do people pick on others?

Before giving teens the definition, brainstorm as a collective group definition and preconceived notions teens have of a bully. After listening to teens input and ideas, present the teens with the actual definition of a bully. Here is the definition we suggest providing: A bully is someone who repeatedly intimidates, defends, insults, or humiliates, Bullying can be physical, verbal (name-calling, taunting, insulting), or emotional (alliance building, silent treatment, shunning, spreading nasty gossip and online or cyber-bullying). It is deliberate and hurtful behavior, usually repeated over a period of time. Bullying is almost always done to kids who are perceived to be vulnerable.

After discussing this “textbook” definition of bullying, make teens aware of other types of bullying that exist and they may be experiencing such as “relational aggression.” These are situations in which social relationships are used as the means to harm a peer. Additionally, because of many reality shows, such as Gossip Girl, this behavior may be seen as ‘normal’ or desirable. Some examples of this type of behavior can include unspoken rules and exclusionary behavior.

Lastly, discuss with teens if this is normal acceptable behavior and how they feel about that.

Activity 2: Make teens aware of how technology has influenced communication in relationships and friendships and talk with them about cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying is a new way of bullying and can be far more devastating than in-person bullying-its spreads quickly and reaches far more people. Some methods of cyberbullying include texting, sexting (sexting is broadcasting nude or semi-nude photos by cell phone text messaging), emailing, chat rooms, blogs, websites, sending photos, and posting fake profiles.

Ask teens to individually look back at their text message “sent messages” folder at some of the text messages they’ve recently sent to friends.

Would they want their mom/dad/teacher/principal to see these messages?

Have teens delete the ones they wouldn’t want them to see as a sign of their commitment to ending cyberbullying

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This year the entire month of February is dedicated to raising awareness about dating violence: Senator Mike Crapo-R (ID) and Senator Lieberman-I (CT) have introduced a resolution proclaiming February 2010 as the first ‘National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month.’

One in three adolescent girls in the United States 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 resolution supports community efforts that empower teens to develop healthier relationships, and calls on parents, schools and community members to observe the month with consciousness-raising activities that can go a long way toward preventing teen dating violence.

At press conference last week announcing the unanimous passage of the Senate resolution, Senator Mike Crapo said, “We intend to increase our focus on stopping this form of domestic violence against all victims by expanding this national awareness to a full month, and repeat our call to protect federal dollars designated to help all victims of domestic violence.”

Get involved. Speak out. And encourage your community to take a stand against dating violence!

More information:

Resolution S.373:  National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month

MTV/ AP Research Study on Dating Abuse

Teen Dating Violence Fact Sheet

Adi Barkan is an Israeli fashion photographer and model agent who has campaigned for legislation banning the use of anorexic models.

Barkan worked as a fashion photographer for fifteen years in Paris, London and New York, before returning to Israel in 1998 to open his own modeling agency in Tel Aviv. After speaking on television about his experience with model Hila Elmalich, an anorexic whom he rushed to hospital after she collapsed and who later died, Barkan was deluged by telephone calls from girls and young women suffering from anorexia. This experience persuaded him to require all of his models to submit to BMI exams to demonstrate their physical health and lack of an eating disorder.

Working with Member of Knesset Inbal Gavriely, he successfully submitted legislation to the Israeli Knesset in December, 2004, requiring all modeling agencies in Israel to use the BMI (Body Mass Index) exam,  making Israel one of the first countries to pass such a bill. Subsequently, an agency will not be allowed to continue representing a model unless she submits to a health test every three months and receives higher than 19 BMI. Any agency that does not comply will be fined accordingly and all forms will be monitored by the Israeli Health Ministry. ^[1] The campaign has received backing by both the Ministry of Health and the Israeli Center of Changing Eating Habit, while additionally, more than 30 Israeli CEOs have agreed to only hire models who have passed the health exam for their advertisements. 

In 2009 Barkan, together with Rabbi Raphael Mammo of Kiryat Ata and Alon Gal, a personal coach, launched Simply U- a countrywide talent-scouting project to find the most promising healthy, well-balanced and normal-sized would-be models in Israel. Simply U will hold seven auditions around Israel and select 20 girls who, for six weeks, will be trained in modeling as well as attend workshops in nutrition, sports and self-esteem. This process will be covered by Israel’s Channel 2 which will follow the audition process via a 24/7 Internet video channel. The project is to be sponsored by four major corporations: food company Strauss-Elite, cosmetics company L’Oreal; sports gear company New Balance and another contract is set to be signed by a leading fashion firm. In the future, Simply U intends to run a plus-sized model campaign as well.

Violence against women is a crippling problem. It destroys families and divides communities, and no nation is immune. In some countries, 70% of women and girls will experience violence in their lifetime. The reverberating impact of this violence is felt all over the world.

November 25^th is the 10th annual observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The United Nations resolution, passed December 17^th, 1999, honors the lives of three political activists, the Mirabel sisters, who were brutally assassinated in 1960 on orders from the Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo.

For too long violence against women has been a silent oppressor, imprisoning victims and their families in an ongoing cycle of abuse and secrecy. Today the UN, in conjunction with numerous state governments and millions of activists around the globe, are raising awareness about this issue to ensure that victims of violence no longer feel alone, and to advocate for those still unable to break their silence.

Please join the Say NO to Violence Against Women Campaign led by UNIFEM and find an action in your community!  Post to this blog and let us know about the incredible events happening in your community.

In the aftermath of Saturday evening’s House vote on health care reform, the choice community- advocates, Members of Congress, the grassroots network- have been scrambling to understand how this 11^th hour anti-abortion amendment passed and what we can do to keep the egregious language out of the Senate bill.

The Affordable Health Care for America Act, HR 3962, is an incredible step towards comprehensive health care. It will eliminate embedded discriminatory insurance practices against women, banning pre-existing conditions and gender rating, and it will expand coverage to millions of the previously uninsured. And yet, this bill is the single greatest setback for women’s rights since the Hyde amendment and with potentially worse repercussions.

The Hyde amendment banned the use of federal dollars to pay for abortions. The Stupak-Pitts amendment upholds and expands the ban on federal dollars for abortion services- prohibiting women from using their own funds to buy comprehensive coverage that includes abortion services through the new insurance exchange.
For the 60 million women in this country who have insurance in the private market, the Stupak-Pitts amendment jeopardizes the quality and scope of their health care. Insurance companies excluded from the new exchange could have difficulty competing in the private market, placing them at a financial disadvantage, why then should they continue offering abortion coverage?

To prevent the abortion issues from becoming the Achilles heal of the health care debate, we made a compromise that advanced neither the pro-life nor the pro-choice agenda.  The Capps amendment would have inserted language that was abortion neutral; abortion coverage would be excluded from the public option plan and federal subsidies could not be used for abortion services, but women could use the money from their premiums to pay for such services.

Neither side was happy with this solution, but we recognized (at least it appeared so) that health care reform should not be a vehicle to debate abortion rights in this country.

And then suddenly the Capps language was too lenient, the opposition arguing an accounting technicality could not guarantee that federal subsidies would not be used for abortions. Despite the reality-insurance companies currently have the ability to maintain two separate funding streams- fear forced the unnecessary passage of the Stupak-Pitts amendment.

The lesson to take away from this experience is that we, as advocates, cannot let our guard down. We need to spend attention and energy both on converting our opposition and encouraging our champions.

As a woman I want health care reform, but I refuse to endorse an amendment that marginalizes my right to choose and undermines my equality.

Also read: Marci A. Hamilton at FindLaw.

On Saturday evening the House of Representatives will vote on health care reform. Now is the time for YOU to make the call!

CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS AT 1-877-264-4226. The switchboard will ask for your home phone number and then direct you to the correct office.

When connected to your Representative’s office, give them your information:

“My name is ____. I live in (city, state). I am your constituent.”

Explain that you want health care reform that gives women and girls access to quality care at an affordable price. You believe health care reform must

• Eliminate Discriminatory Practices Against Women: Insurance companies routinely factor gender into setting premium levels, charging women more than men for identical coverage.
• Ban unfair “Pre-existing Condition” Practices: Women are often denied or excluded from coverage because of their health history.
• Ensure Comprehensive Benefits: Women often choose to forgo necessary heath services because their ‘bare bones’ health plans do not cover benefits that are critical to maintaining their health.
• Make Health Care Affordable: Health care coverage is simply too expensive now. For health reform to be successful, Congress must guarantee that women can afford to purchase and utilize quality health coverage.

Every call makes a difference. Send these talking points to your friends and family – encourage them to make the call.

Every day 14,000 Americans lose their health care.

Don’t Wait. It’s time for you to make the call.

Today House Democratic leaders unveiled their health care reform legislation, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, flanked by dozens of congressional supporters, explained that few pieces of legislation define the character of a nation- health care reform will shape future generations, “progress will be measured by the success of the American family to progress [under this bill].”

The legislation, HR. 3962 is a combination of three committee bills written by Representative Henry Waxman, Representative John Dingell, and Representative Charles Rangel. The deficit neutral bill will expand coverage to 36 million Americans, provide a public option, and outlaw widespread discriminatory practices that have prevented so many Americans from receiving quality and affordable care.

Women will be major beneficiaries of this health care reform plan, a fact understated in the health reform debate. A mother of triplets spoke of the blatant inequality women face in the current health care system. Ten years ago she paid $22,000 out of pocket for fertility treatments not covered under her insurance. Last year, after discovering that her family spent 1/3 of their income on health insurance, she applied for a new plan. She was denied coverage because her infertility was deemed a pre-existing condition and her husband was denied coverage because of spousal-infertility. HR. 3962 will ban all pre-existing conditions, so that no woman can be denied insurance for wanting to be a mother.

The legislation will also prohibit insurance companies from practicing gender rating- an insurance policy that forced 14 million women to pay 48% more than men for identical insurance plans.

Representative John Dingell, a lifetime Congressional Champion for universal health care said that this bill will bring peace of mind to Americans because it will ensure that quality and affordable care is available when they need it regardless of gender, occupation, age, and geography.

While we are stilling facing a tumultuous battle in both chambers of Congress, the sense of excitement and triumph was apparent in the faces of all members present at this historic event.

Watch the entire press event here: http://www.c-span.org/Watch/Media/2009/10/29/HP/R/24837/Homepage+Health+Care.aspx

Every word counts in domestic violence reporting

This year, for DVAM, JWI is focusing on the media. Last week we issued an action alert asking our supporters to send letters to ten major newspapers across the country – calling on  journalists to tell the whole story when reporting incidents of domestic violence.

Nobody has been more surprised by the response than we have: In one week, about 1,000 of these letters have been sent out through our website. A frustrated editor at the L.A. Times called our offices to complain about the 400 copies of this letter (and counting) personally forwarded to her by our supporters.

Reporting these crimes with accurate language is critical to the public’s understanding of domestic violence as a specific type of crime.  Seventy-four percent of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner; yet, the phrase ‘domestic violence’ is rarely found in coverage of these incidents. Reporting an assault or murder as one episode in a pattern of abuse – not an isolated act of violence – is as relevant as where, when, how and to whom it happened.

Journalists’ inaccurate accounts – reports that blame the victims, or excuse abusers – reinforce myths and misunderstandings about domestic violence. All media coverage of intimate partner violence must do the following:

• Acknowledge that domestic violence is not a private matter

• Use accurate language – words like abuse; assault; rape

• Convey that domestic violence is a pattern of behavior that often escalates when a victim is trying to leave, or has left, the relationship

• Identify the act as a domestic violence crime and place the murder in the larger context of domestic violence murders locally and nationally

Does your newspaper report about incidents of domestic violence? Is the coverage accurate?

It is clear from the overwhelming response that we need to do more to educate journalists and to challenge the media to engage in balanced reporting.  If you have not sent a letter to your newspaper, please take action.

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Restored funding saves some shelters; too late for others

On October 15^th the California State Senate unanimously passed an emergency funding bill restoring $16.3 million in funds, enabling the 94 domestic violence shelters and hundreds of direct service providers to keep their doors open.

In July, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, faced with a severe budget deficit, used a line item veto to slash over $16 million in funds allocated to domestic violence organizations. Since then the Governor and California State Senators have been in a funding tug-of-war that finally reached a solution last week.

The emergency funding, while too late for six shelters, is a lifeline for many domestic violence organizations on the brink of closure. “In order to keep the remaining domestic violence shelters open, it is absolutely vital that the Governor immediately sign this bill into law,” said Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). “Failure to do so will only result in increased health care, law enforcement and other costs to the state. But more critically, it puts victims of domestic violence and their children in grave danger.

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Health insurers want to deny coverage to victims of abuse

“Domestic violence is a public health issue,” Congressman Ted Poe told participants at last Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Violence Against Women. The other members of the committee nodded in agreement, but it is only recently that the relationship between domestic violence and women’s health has been included in the health care debate.

A widely supported provision of all five competing health care reform bills – banning insurance practices from charging higher premiums or denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions – has generated media attention because it will ensure that domestic violence survivors have access to health care.

Yes, domestic violence can be considered a pre-existing condition.

42 states have already passed legislation prohibiting this practice, but eight states (Idaho, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Wyoming) and the District of Colombia have no such law.

This practice, previously unknown by most states where it is still occurs, has been covered by CNN as a breaking news story and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi mentioned it during her weekly policy address as an egregious practice by insurance companies that must be stopped.

Oklahoma has decided to preempt federal legislation with state action. Three state senators – Senator Jim Wilson, Senator Eric Proctor, and Senator Randy Brogdon – are introducing legislation prohibiting insurance companies from viewing injuries by victims of domestic violence as pre-existing conditions. The bills will be voted on in the beginning of next year.

Activism at the state level is important and the remaining states should follow Oklahoma’s initiative.  The greater problem, however, is the lack of oversight – women were denied access to health care because they had been a victim of a crime and everyone from health care providers to state legislators were unaware or unwillingly to close this loophole.

To find out more information about health care reform and how it will greatly improve the quality of care women receive, especially victims of violence, read JWI’s position statement Principles of Women’s Health Reform.

***Note: In May 2009, Arkansas passed legislation banning insurance practices that viewed domestic violence as a pre-existing condition***