Background
As the leading women’s organization in Israel, WIZO is active in many public forums relating to women’s rights, needs and priorities. Much of this work involves training representatives to promote agendas, having a voice in important committees and government offices, collaborating with other women’s organizations to promote a cause, and raising public awareness via media campaigns. Our WIZO professionals speak on panels, meet with government officials, lead protests, appear on television and advise on committees. WIZO also organizes large-scale conferences on various topics such as domestic violence and women’s rights in the workplace.
Awareness Campaigns
Marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25th, WIZO conducts activities nationwide, including: publishing WIZO’s domestic violence index in the media, conducting research on the topic we choose to focus on that year – Invisible Children, adolescent development and prevention of violent relationships, women in the rehabilitative community, treatment for men, electronic monitoring for offenders – all these topics began as annual themes and evolved into multi-year work plans.
On International Women’s Day on March 8th every year, WIZO conducts surveys and academic position papers on related topics: sexual harassment, wage equality for women, motherhood in Israel, female combatants in the military, occupational discrimination and bias, women leaders in the political arena, gender segregation – these are some of the topics.
WIZO sends representatives to various government and public sector coalitions designed to leverage resources and influence policy areas such as: “Red Lines” collective impact in partnerships, forum of associations operating domestic violence shelters, women’s organizational forum at the Ministry for the Advancement of Women, “Round Table” with the Ministry of Welfare, Rehabilitation Administration – WIZO’s involvement in post-war rehabilitation, and more…
Research is an important tool in assessing the extent of a problem before constructing solutions. WIZO has conducted research in collaboration with Bar Ilan University in the field of treating violent men, treatment methodology in shelters, and more. Additionally, we use evaluation research to assess our programs and measure the changes they bring about: “Mine and Mine Only” evaluation research; multi-year research among women in Safety Net over two years in the community; a family treatment tracking program for families who have been in our women’s shelters; we solicit feedback and run surveys to assess the satisfaction of our Legal Aid clients; and more… Research is important for understanding impact and no less important for raising the issue through public discourse.
