Community Intervention Against Domestic Abuse - 899 Words

Daniella Salawu Shalva: Community Intervention Against Domestic Abuse Shalva organization is an ongoing community invention organization in Chicago. It is working to effect social change for domestic abused women in Jewish communities. Domestic abuse (also known as spousal abuse) is when a partner in an intimate relationship manipulate the other partner by a systematic pattern of coercive behavior. There are multiple forms of domestic abuse such as verbal, emotional, financial, sexual, physical, and psychological. To combat domestic violence against women in Jewish communities, they provided multiple free services such as mental health counseling. They provide a twenty-four hour crisis line, individual and group counseling, financial†¦show more content†¦It is more difficult to leave an abusive relationship without emotional or legal support. Community is another level of analysis contributing to the problem of domestic violence. Jewish women can be chastised by her Jewish community (cobar.org). If a Jewish woman accused a Jewish man of physical abuse outside the Jewish community, she risks receiving hostility from her religious peers, family, and friends (cobar.org). In other words, her entire community can turn against her. There is a stigma in Jewish communities on exposing Jewish misconducts to outsiders (non-Jewish communities). This act is considered a shame and brings disgrace to all Jews around the world. Therefore if a Jewish woman reports her abusive husband to a non-Jewish police officer, she is more likely to be viewed as a traitor than a victim (cobar.org). The third level of analysis involves family and the community. In the United States of America, an orthodox Jewish woman lives under two laws: the U.S. government and Jewish law. Even if the Jewish woman seek and receives a protective order and a legal divorce, she may not be able obtain a divorce under Jewish law (cobar.org). Without a divorce under Jewish law, she will belong to her Jewish husband (cobar.org). The only exceptions are if her abuser dies or is willing to give her a divorce (cobar.org). She will not have much standing in the Jewish community.