What do Jewish women want? Equality and opportunities, research finds

The Alliance of Jewish Women and their Organisations (AJWO) relaunched this week by unveiling the results of a consultation showing that 77 per cent of women feel the community has not yet reached gender equality.

A survey in January and February — What Do Jewish Women Want 2020 — also revealed that 50 per cent of Jewish women feel that communal organisations do not offer them the same opportunities as men (17 per cent disagreed). Three quarters of respondents believed that women were too often represented by men in the media and 95 per cent agreed that Jewish men and boys must be educated about equality.

On the plus side, 69 per cent believed the community has improved on gender equality over the past ten years.

The findings give the reshaped AJWO — formerly known as the Association of Jewish Women’s Organisations — a more defined sense of mission, including tackling the Jewish gender pay gap and ending all-male panels at events. The consultation also called for a stronger campaigning voice from Jewish women in wider society on issues such as climate change.