NCJWA

Advocacy

The NCJWA advocates on issues affecting both Jewish and non-Jewish women:

  • Women’s human rights and status
  • Violence against women and children, including trafficking
  • Women’s economic autonomy and well-being
  • Women’s leadership and participation in decision-making
  • Agunot – the issue of “chained” women unable to gain a Jewish divorce – the Get

NCJWA acts in the spirit of the Jewish principle Tikkun Olam (‘healing the world’) to make the world a better place for all. We join with other organisations to educate, lobby and advocate. These include alliances and coalitions such as Stop the Traffik and the federally funded women’s Australian Women Against Violence Alliance (AWAVA) and the Equality Rights Alliance. We support worthwhile campaigns such as those of Collective Shout, a grassroots campaigning movement against the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls in media, advertising and popular culture.

We keep our members informed about national developments relating to the status of women and encourage them to hold forums on contemporary issues affecting women. Educating ourselves and our communities about issues such as violence against women enables us to better deal with these in our own environments. In becoming more aware we can contribute to raising the level of debate on these matters.

We also support finding solutions to the problem of agunot, women chained to an unwanted Jewish marriage when their husbands refuse to give the get (Jewish divorce). This is a worldwide problem that has attracted the attention of many Jewish women’s rights activists. A recent international summit promises much needed progress, with many rabbis supporting change to remove the obstacles to a get being granted.