Jewish Women in New York Launch Sex Strike to Challenge Oppressive Marriage Laws

Berfin Ceren Meray
Onedio Member
1

Women members of a Jewish community in New York City have embarked on a sex strike to break free from oppressive marriage laws. They are protesting a law that makes divorce from their spouses more difficult, choosing to use a sex strike as a form of protest. Explore the details in the content!

In the United States today, there are many Jewish communities. However, one community has recently made a striking move by launching a sex strike near a town in New York.

According to T24's report, nearly 1000 Hasidic women have begun a sex strike to protest against a Jewish law that they claim pushes them into oppressive marriages.

According to this Jewish law, women must first obtain permission from rabbis to report a domestic violence incident to the police. Jewish women believe that this law leads them into a restrictive and abusive marriage.

The Jewish community of Kiryas Joel is determined to change this law. Until this law is changed, the women in the community are refusing to have sex with their spouses, as the divorce process under this law is also quite problematic.

Under this law, for a woman to divorce her husband, the man must first give her a letter written in Aramaic, and three rabbis must sign the document for the divorce to be finalized.

The Jewish law significantly affects the community's women negatively. They feel trapped in unwanted marriages. These women describe themselves as 'agunah,' meaning 'chained women.'

Jewish rabbis criticize this sex strike. According to rabbis, punishing men by withholding sex damages the institution of marriage and violates Jewish laws.