Supporting Women Through War, Recovery, and Change

A Look at 2025 in WIZO’s Division for the Advancement of Women

The prolonged war has reshaped daily life in Israel and deeply affected women across all ages and life stages. While national crisis is often spoken of in collective terms, the reality is far more complex: each woman experiences the upheaval differently, shaped by her personal history, family structure, community, and emotional resources.

The Division for the Advancement of Women works from this understanding. Throughout the past year, our focus was on creating professional, accessible responses to women living under sustained stress—responses that reduce isolation, strengthen coping abilities, and rebuild a sense of connection and meaning.

Building Resilience Through Group Support

At the heart of the Division’s work are group-based frameworks that transform individual distress into shared strength. Nationwide workshops were designed as a collective emotional response to the ongoing emergency, helping women identify and expand their coping resources—emotional, cognitive, physical, social, and creative.

Over the year, the Division facilitated more than 130 workshops and group processes, including 24 core workshops in WIZO branches alone, supporting over 1500 women and men. These groups became safe spaces for processing fear, grief, and exhaustion, while fostering mutual support that often continued beyond the formal program.

Rebuilding Communities in the Gaza Envelope and the North

As women returned to communities evacuated after October 7, the need for structured emotional support was immediate and ongoing. Working alongside resilience centers and welfare authorities, the Division developed and led 20 “Soft Landing” workshops, reaching 240 women in the Gaza Envelope.

In Sderot and surrounding communities, 12 Open House programs provided accessible, ongoing support to more than 140 women, helping rebuild trust, social connection, and a sense of belonging during an unfinished recovery process.

Standing with Reservist Families

Extended and repeated reserve duty placed extraordinary strain on families. In response, the Division expanded dedicated frameworks for wives, partners, children, and new parents in reservist families.

Through 34 art therapy groups, over 400 partners of reservists received tools to process trauma and prolonged uncertainty. 29 dyadic movement workshops supported nearly 350 mothers and toddlers, acknowledging the impact of stress even on the youngest children.

Special attention was given to men who became fathers while serving. Through 11 “A Father Is Born” programs, more than 130 reserve soldiers and security personnel were supported as they navigated parenthood alongside service and emotional load.

Addressing Domestic Violence in the Shadow of War

Prolonged exposure to stress and trauma increases the risk of domestic violence. Throughout the year, the Division strengthened its prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation efforts in response to growing needs.

WIZO responded to over 1,100 calls to the Men’s Hotline and more than 1,300 calls to its legal and therapeutic hotline for women. In addition, hundreds of individuals received individual legal and emotional counseling.

Beyond crisis intervention, two shelters provided safety and rehabilitation for 156 women and children, while 11 “Growing Together” communities supported 218 women and approximately 600 children rebuilding their lives after leaving violent relationships.

Alongside direct support, the Division invested heavily in prevention and professional training. More than 2,060 women and men participated in over 28 training and educational frameworks, and an additional 5,928 women and men took part in prevention programs—among them 233 workshops of “Mine and Mine Alone”, WIZO’s flagship domestic violence prevention program. These efforts strengthened the capacity of communities, schools, and organizations to identify, prevent, and respond to violence in families and communities.

Moving Forward

The work of the Division for the Advancement of Women is grounded in the understanding that recovery from prolonged crisis is not linear and cannot be rushed. By standing alongside women—in communities under fire, in families carrying invisible burdens, and in moments of profound transition—WIZO continues to strengthen personal resilience, social connection, and the foundations of a more stable society.
As long as the crisis continues, so will this commitment: to listen, to support, and to ensure that women are not left to carry this reality alone.