“Not a Nag, a Red Flag”: WIZO’s National Stand Against Violence — Starting With Israel’s Teens

Every year, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women shines a light on a global crisis.
But this year, WIZO chose to turn that light somewhere it rarely goes, to teenagers.

While the public conversation usually centers on adult domestic violence, WIZO saw something happening in its programs, its hotlines, its shelters, and in schools across the country: a silent epidemic of emotional and technological abuse in young relationships.
An epidemic made worse by the extraordinary reality Israel’s teens are living through.

And so in 2025, WIZO made a national decision: To address the roots of violence, long before adulthood, and expose the realities facing a generation shaped by COVID-19 and the Iron Swords War.

A Generation Growing Up Under Unprecedented Pressure

Israel’s youth came of age in a world defined by turbulence:
first the pandemic, then an ongoing war, waves of displacement, loss, disrupted schooling, and constant exposure to graphic “war content” online.

Your presentation identified these as dominant forces shaping their emotional world:

• prolonged uncertainty
• collective trauma
• fear, anxiety, and instability
• social withdrawal
• digital overload
• and exposure to violent imagery at a very young age

Within this fragile reality, first relationships — normally a space of exploration — became instead a place where new forms of violence took root.

And unlike the violence seen in adults, teen dating violence rarely looks physical.
It hides in the digital and emotional spaces where teens spend their lives:

• checking phones constantly
• reading messages without permission
• obsessive communication
• isolation from friends
• manipulation
• threats over photos
• guilt-tripping
• “If you leave me, I’ll hurt myself.”

Many teens mistake these behaviors for love, attention, or care, especially when they reflect behaviors seen at home or online.

What the Research Shows: WIZO’s Teen Violence Study

To understand the scale of the problem, WIZO conducted a national study with Prof. Anat Ben-Porat (Bar-Ilan University), based on insights from WIZO’s flagship prevention program “Mine and Only Mine.”

The findings were unmissable:

Among educators (150 surveyed):

• 46% identified domestic violence cases in the last 3 years
• 46% say violence increased since October 7
• 69% feel they lack the tools to help teens in harmful relationships
• 68% had no relevant training in the past 7 years
• Only 20% feel confident identifying early warning signs

Among teens (356 surveyed):

• 39% say violence among peers increased since October 7
• 56% cannot recognize when a friend is in a harmful relationship
• 54% never received school-based education on domestic violence
• 77% believe schools should teach it
• 49% of teens in relationships feel increased tension due to the war
• 22% say their partner used the war to justify harmful behavior
• 65% want tools for recognizing red flags
• Only 31% who saw violence actually turned to their parents

The message was clear:
Teens need help.
Educators need tools.
And the adults meant to protect them are unprepared.

This is exactly why WIZO’s “Mine and Only Mine” program is so essential — teaching teens to recognize red flags, set boundaries, and seek help early, while also training the adults around them.

WIZO’s Violence Index: A Troubling National Picture

In parallel, WIZO released its long-running Violence Index, which compiles national data on violence against women in Israel.

This year, the findings were alarming not only because of the violence itself, but because the state of Israel has no unified, reliable system for collecting data on domestic violence.
A reality that severely limits policy-making and prevention.

Professionals across Israel agree:
Two years of war and prolonged national emergency dramatically increase risks for violence in the home:

• reservist mobilization
• unemployment
• financial instability
• emotional exhaustion
• rising mental health strain
• and a significant increase in weapons in civilian homes

Yet, despite the urgency, WIZO researchers found:

• only 6 of 10 government ministries provided data
• data was often outdated, incomplete, or significantly delayed

As WIZO noted: “The data we could not obtain speaks as loudly as the data we did.”

This failure is not technical — it is moral.

Without accurate data, there can be no national strategy.

A National Campaign With Nationwide Reach

In response, WIZO launched one of its largest and most visible public campaigns in years:

“Not a Nag, a Red Flag!”

(“זו לא חפירה, זו נורה אדומה!”)

A message that reframes how society views young people’s concerns — not as nagging, but as warnings that must be taken seriously.

The campaign reached Israel through every major channel:

• a nationwide social media campaign (videos, carousels, reels)
• posters and educational materials in schools and youth villages
• billboards in major cities
• radio messages broadcast around the country
• activities across youth frameworks
• professional training linked to “Mine and Only Mine”

Every component was based on the combined insights of the teen-violence study and WIZO’s national Violence Index.

And for the first time, all digital materials were translated and adapted for WIZO Federations worldwide, expanding the campaign’s reach far beyond Israel.

National Conference: Bringing Israel Together

On November 25, WIZO hosted its professional conference “Not a Nag! A Red Flag!” at Shitufim House in Beit Yehoshua.

The conference brought together:

• educators
• social workers
• researchers
• policy leaders
• youth professionals
• and civil society organizations

Participants heard:

• new research by Prof. Anat Ben-Porat
• findings from the teen study
• insights from the Violence Index
• and panels outlining systemic solutions and policy needs

It was an unprecedented moment where research, fieldwork, and national advocacy aligned.

WIZO’s Role: A Lifeline in the Absence of a National System

For decades, WIZO has been one of Israel’s strongest forces fighting violence against women, running:

• shelters
• hotlines
• legal advocacy
• public awareness campaigns
• and the country’s leading school-based prevention programs

Year after year, WIZO has stepped in where the state has not; collecting data, supporting victims, educating youth, and pushing for national reform.

This year’s dual campaign, addressing teen dating violence and the national failure to measure domestic violence, reflects WIZO’s unique vantage point: seeing the full cycle of violence, from adolescence to adulthood, and working to break it at every stage.

Because violence doesn’t end when the awareness day does.

And neither does WIZO’s work.