I spent the day today at a conference presented by the Jewish Domestic Abuse Collaborative called “Not ‘just’ a women’s issue… Understanding Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community.” It was a long day, a very emotional day for many involved, including me.

I plan to post – hopefully tomorrow – on the conference and some of the issues it raised.

Meanwhile, remember this: family violence, domestic violence, domestic abuse, or whatever you want to call it (I personally prefer “family violence” for reasons I’ll explain in the forthcoming post) crosses all lines: age, gender, RELIGION, culture, ethnicity, nationality, and socio-economic status. Family violence DOES exist in the Jewish community, as any other, and the only SHAME is in turning our backs on it and pretending it doesn’t exist.

If you are in a violent situation at home, if you are not safe, if your children are not safe, GET HELP. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

Orthodox women may want to check out this link or this link for help.

More to come…