The following examples illustrate the magnitude of the potential for social change vested in the graduates of the School of Social Work at Tel Aviv University. These success stories have been achieved with great effort and limited means. We believe that with the help of the Social Change Hub, they will become few among many.
The project:
Creating a special rehabilitation framework for female delinquents with complex mental symptoms
Netta Hansen, a graduate student at the Human Rights and Policy Advancement Masters Program at the School of Social Work, noticed in her role as acting National Prison-Community Counselor for Women in the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority that a group of women constantly falls outside any existing rehabilitation framework due to the combination of delinquency and complex mental symptoms, triggered by traumatic events. In an unusual move, a joint committee was set up for three authorities: the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority, the Adult Probation Service and the Prison Service, to examine the creation of a new framework that would provide a proper solution to these women and also save the recurring costs of inefficient hospitalization or incarceration. The committee, in which Netta is a member, will soon submit its conclusions to the relevant government ministries. The conclusions would also be included in report the inter-ministerial committee for examining alternatives to imprisonment. If the committee's recommendations are accepted, for the first time in their lives, these women will have the opportunity to rehabilitate and integrate into society in a beneficial way.
Netta Hansen
Hala Abu-Zaid
The project:
Establishment of a center for the realization of rights in the Jaffa Ajami neighborhood as a basis for re-establishing trust between the residents and the authorities
Hala Abu-Zaid, a graduate of the School of Social Work, set up the Ajami Center for the Realization of Rights in response to an unmet need , identified by the residents, especially as the center opened right with the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and was flooded with inquiries about unpaid leave of absence and income support. The Ajami residents, through the realization of rights, overcome fears of the establishment, thus opening up additional possibilities in the fields of education, employment, housing, etc. Within a year and a half, the center gained considerable reputation and is now evolving in new directions, such as a pilot project designed to assist protected tenants to purchase the apartment in which they live.
The projects:
Nationwide Women's Strike, "More Than Thirty" project, Bereaved Mothers' campaign and a NGO fighting against the prices of female hygiene products
Following a wave of murder of women by male spouses or other family members, Stav Arnon and Ruthy Klein, graduates of the Policy Change Clinic, a practical course within the undergraduate program at the Bob Shapell School of Social Work, initiated the 2018 Nationwide Women's Strike, which was joined by thousands of people and supported by many private companies and public institutions. A year later, Ruthy and Stav also initiated the women's march as a continuation of the same protest, as well as the "More Than Thirty" project, following the rape of a 16-year-old in Eilat. Stav also helped organizing the Bereaved Mothers' Protest, namely the protest of Arab mothers against the increasing rates of criminal violence among Israeli Arabs, whereas Ruthy founded a NGO by the name of Luna, which fights to reduce the prices of female hygienic products in Israel, viewing that although basic products for half the population, they lack any subsidy from the state.
Stav Arnon
Ruthy Klein
The project:
Establishment of the "Endometriosis Israel" NGO, which works to raise awareness of the chronic disease Endometriosis that affects one in ten women
Aya Wertheimer, a graduate of the Human Rights and Policy Advancement Masters program at the School of Social Work, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Endometriosis Israel, which works to raise awareness of Endometriosis and to change policy, realize rights and develop knowledge about the disease, that affects one in ten women. Within two years, Endometriosis Israel managed to bring the Israeli Ministry of Health to list the disease as a chronic disease and to create a dedicated form for the disease for those applying for disability payment from the National Insurance Institute. Its next goals are to raise awareness of the disease among physicians and pediatricians, to offer scholarships for researchers of the disease and to secure long-term state-sponsored fertility treatments to patients facing various difficulties to conceive.
Aya Wertheimer