The Center for Gender, Law and Policy המרכז למשפט, מגדר ומדיניות חברתית

Gender inequality in Israel is a central problem. It requires the formulation of a practical and research agenda, the focus of which must be identification of the existing barriers to the advancement of women in the private and public sectors, as well as the formulation of legislative and policymaking tools that can break down those barriers. The Center for Gender, Law and Policy aims to achieve progress through four primary channels of activity: (1) Multidisciplinary research with an emphasis on gender analysis of law (2) Instruction and training for policymakers and jurists (3) Shaping public policy (4) Initiating projects focused on the connection between feminist theory and action. The Faculty of Law at Haifa University is a natural home for the Center for Gender, Law and Policy since it is the leading faculty in Israel in the area of gender research in terms of the number of faculty members that engage with these issues. In addition, the Faculty of Law's pluralist nature and geographical location in Haifa produce a unique connection to feminist research and action. Haifa is one of the only cities in Israel in which Arabs and Jews live side by side, it is the cradle of the feminist movement in Israel, and home to the movement's reformulation in the early 1970s. To this day Haifa is a vibrant center for grassroots feminist organizations, in the framework of which Jewish and Arab women join together in collective action. We aim to turn the Center for Gender, Law and Policy into a unique platform, through which academic research and the world of action will be interplayed in order to promote of gender equality in Israel.
The Center's Founding Directors are Dr. Noya Rimalt and Prof. Shulamit Almog - both Professors of Law at the University of Haifa.