The project 'Equality for Women in Israel: Adopting a Holistic Approachtriggers official report on sexual harassment at work

The project "Equality for Women in Israel: Adopting a Holistic Approach " aims at mitigating discrimination against women both inside and outside the Israeli labour market and at reducing prejudices and stereotypes that violate the equality and dignity of women in society. It is implemented by Shatil – The New Israel Fund's Empowerment and Training Center for Social Change Organizations and funded by the European Union.

In the framework of the project Shatil created an inter-organizational action group which includes: the Kayan feminist organization; the Association of Rape Crisis Centers; Tmura - the Israeli Anti-discrimination Legal Center and the Mahut Center - Information, Guidance and Employment for Women. As a result of this collaborative effort, hundreds of workshops on sexual harassment were organized and implemented to make employees aware of their rights and to ensure that supervisors understand their responsibilities, including a designated point person to receive complaints and take official action. The participants acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. These workshops reached some 15,000 employers and employees in government institutions, the Israel Bar Association, Magen David Adom and other major institutions throughout the country. "The contribution of Shatil in combating sexual harassment in the workplace and to gender equality in the workforce is truly remarkable,” said Michal Rosin, executive director of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers. “Shatil's work will have a dramatic affect on victims of sexual harassment."

Moreover, this inter-organizational action group contacted the Research and Economic Administration of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labour, leading the ministry to write a comprehensive report on the scope of sexual harassment at work in Israel, with an emphasis on its economic costs to the victims, the employers and to the Israeli economy. In preparation for the report, a comprehensive study was conducted by the ministry, which in turn led to a model for calculating the economic costs of sexual harassment to the business sector, taking into account resulting absences, decreased productivity, changes in job positions and more. Furthermore, a first-of-its-kind survey was held to examine the scope of sexual harassment at work with an emphasis on its economic costs – with the ministry deciding to conduct the survey every two years, thereby creating a statistical basis enabling initiation and adaptation of programs for the prevention of sexual harassment. The report was published in January 2012 at a special conference held by the ministry. The main findings are that 11.4% of employed women, i.e. 165,000 women, report being sexually harassed at their workplace, with an economic cost to the Israeli economy of NIS 1 billion per year.

The ministry's report is available in Hebrew on: http://cms.moital.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/80A04535-2502-4DD2-B1D4-E280B6F9887F/0/X11458.pdf

For more information on Shatil: http://www.shatil.org.il/english/