Speak UP!

Until now, much of the campaign to raise awareness about get refusal has been led by professionals - lawyers, social workers and community advocates. However, a key advocate missing from the campaign has been the mesuravot get, the women themselves.

Mavoi Satum believes that agunot and mesuravot get hold key voices in the public awareness campaign, who can and should be empowered to participate in the campaign and to effectively represent themselves and their own cause. However, although many agunot and mesuravot get would like to participate in the campaign, they are often untrained in the skills of speaking to the press or before members of Knesset. Morevoer, the media often prefer to focus on personal stories rather than dealing with the structural, political and social issues pertaining to get refusal.

That is why Mavoi Satum offers the unprecedented "Speak Up!" program, a multifaceted program that empowers mesuravot get to speak publicly and persuasively about the problems that face them and thousands of other women around Israel. The program not only enables women to acquire valuable communication skilles, but also facilitates their own personal advancement, growth and personal empowerment. Speak UP! gives the women a sense of confidence in their ability to take charge over their lives, raises their confidence and self esteem, helps them be more assertive in every day life, and ultimately
allows their voices to be heard in the most powerful ways.

The program is composed of four components: policy education, communication training, advocacy training, and creating the opportunities for impact.

Policy education: The program includes a short course that deals with the basics of the legal problem, the halakhic problem, and the possible solutions. The course builds upon the women's experiential knowledge to facilitate a better understanding of their situation and offer a broader socio-political context to their personal stories. In this way, the women gain a new perspective on their situation other than that of ‘victim’.

Media training: Participants receive training in presenting themselves in front of different media outlets. A communications professional trains the women on what to wear on television, with whom to speak, how to talk and  what kinds of language to use. The program equips the women with campaigning skills so that they approach the media and governmental or political bodies from a position of strength, knowledge and power rather than that of a victim. The Speak Up! Program thus works on returning the power to women that their husbands and the legal system has previously taken away from them

Advocacy training: A professional advocate trains the women in persuasive discourse for use in front of the Knesset and other governmental bodies. They are also trained in how to deal with possible attacks by opponents. The skills gained from the advocacy training not only enable them to effectively represent their cause, but also provide opportunities to foster the growth of self confidence, assertiveness and self worth - qualities which are essential to developing positive, healthy relationships.

Creating opportunities for impact: After each course, Mavoi Satum works on creating the opportunities for the participants in the Speak up! Program to speak to the press or in front of legislators. The women ultimately play a major role in the campaign to solve the problem of get refusal. They are at the forefront of the campaign.