The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.
“Indian patriarchy is very, very deep rooted and nurtured from birth: You shall not question men. It’s entwined into the smallest moments of daily life,” says Aruna Dholakiya, program leader of AJWS partner organization Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan (KMVS). “Girls internalize these patriarchal beliefs; the patriarchy becomes them.” Across India, AJWS supports grassroots organizations like KMVS to …
AJWS’s Global Justice Fellowship brings together progressive Jewish clergy from across the country to learn about the global fight for human rights, advocate for change, and bring these messages back to their congregations and communities. Before Rosh Hashanah begins, please watch Rabbis Faith Joy Dantowitz, Sandra Lawson, and Michael Knopf deliver some words of wisdom …
From an early age, Carmela Curup Chajon and Olivia Sienchavez knew that the Guatemala they grew up in would not be the Guatemala they left behind. Today, from a small, unassuming office in Guatemala City, these women fight relentlessly for justice for Indigenous communities in court, leading AJWS grantee organization Bufete para Pueblas Indígenas (BPI), …
At 73-years-old, Seynabou Male Cissé witnessed Senegal gain independence from French colonizers in 1960 — and then saw her home region of Casamance descend into armed conflict in 1982. True peace has been elusive in Casamance for decades. But Seynabou has devoted almost her entire life to making peace, freedom and justice a reality. After years as a teacher and activist, …
Last month, we brought you inside a gathering of nearly 1,000 women in Nairobi, feminists, activists, and providers devoting themselves to building societies that don’t control women’s lives. This month, we’ll focus on just one. Sixteen-year-old Nita Bhil lives in a small village in Kutch, a region in the farthest west reaches of India. Her …
Nita Bhil still remembers the moment she thought her whole life would fall apart. Her parents—bricklayers from a marginalized caste in India—had arranged a match for Nita’s sister. To save money, they’d decided to have Nita, their youngest of seven daughters, married off at the same time. She was 14 years old. “I was shocked; …
