This paper examines communication strategies shaping the efforts of Oxfam Great Britain (GB) partner Sawt el-Amel (the Laborer's Voice) to advocate for the labour rights of Arab-Israeli women - described here as "one of the most marginalised and invisible groups within Israeli society". Part of the Oxfam GB publication "Learning for Action on Women's Leadership and Participation", the paper focuses on the organisation's activism to oppose the Wisconsin Plan, a welfare-to-work programme introduced by the Israeli government in 2005. "In response to the hardship that the plan has brought to themselves and their families, women have become active in leading popular opposition to the Plan. This is a significant and unprecedented move in their conservative communities, where women's presence in the public sphere has traditionally not been accepted."

Established in 1999 by Arab workers from Nazareth, Sawt el-Amel supports low-income and unemployed Arab-Israeli citizens experiencing discrimination in the labour market and the welfare system. They pursue this through a range of activities including collective and individual legal action, advocacy, and campaigns raising awareness. Sawt el-Amel was concerned that the implementation of the Wisconsin Plan was having an adverse effect on Arab-Israeli citizens, because people receiving state unemployment benefits in areas where the programme is being implemented now have to attend the Wisconsin Plan centres for up to 40 hours a week, and they have to accept any job offered to them by the employment agencies, or participate in voluntary work. If a family is dependent on state benefits, both spouses have to attend, even if one is fully occupied caring for young children. Sawt el-Amel responded by opening an Alternative Wisconsin Centre with the support of Oxfam GB. This centre provides information and legal services to people affected by the scheme, helping them find decent work outside the framework of the Wisconsin Plan, and undertaking advocacy work as well.

The establishment of the Alternative Wisconsin Centre brought Sawt el-Amel activists into contact with both men and women affected by the Wisconsin Plan, and made them realise that they needed more specific information about how the Plan was impacting on women. Sawt el-Amel applied to Oxfam GB for funding to carry out a participatory needs assessment (PNA), which involved organising meetings and focus groups. Women Wisconsin Plan participants also spoke to people attending the Wisconsin Centres, reporting back to Sawt el-Amel on their conversations. As anticipated, the results of the PNA showed that women were particularly vulnerable to exploitation within the Wisconsin Plan framework. The paper details the shape of this exploitation, which involves verbal harassment and humiliation, women being sent to work in very harsh conditions and not getting paid, women being offered shift work in factories they could not reach by public transport in time to start and being denied access to benefits when they explained this, etc. One issue identified by many of the women, discussed in detail here, was the failure of the Wisconsin Plan to make any allowances for people with young children. But talking to Sawt el-Amel about any of these rights violations "was seen as a form of 'non-co-operation', effectively obstructing the rights of Wisconsin Plan participants to access support and legal advice."

Some of the women who gave their views during the PNA decided that they wanted to do more to measure the impact of the Wisconsin Plan on women in particular, and to provide assistance to other women affected by the Plan. They formed the Women's Platform in September 2005 to provide moral support, legal advice, and general information at the two Wisconsin Centres in Nazareth, as well as to collect information from women there about their experiences. The Women's Platform has reached over 3,000 women in this way, referring individual women in need of specific legal advice to Sawt el-Amel's legal clinic (which "has resulted in Sawt el-Amel winning a number of important test cases on behalf of women workers"). In addition, lobbying informed by the Women's Platform "has resulted in legislated changes to the Plan, meaning in particular that unemployed single women with children under the age of 12 are now no longer expected to attend the Wisconsin Centre full-time."

According to this report, members of the Women's Platform have gradually assumed leadership of the public struggle against the Wisconsin Plan. They have organised and participated in sit-ins at Wisconsin Centres and a demonstration to mark International Women's Day in 2006; requested Sawt el-Amel to organise workshops and lectures on the Wisconsin Plan and workers' rights in relation to it; and spoken at conferences held in Israel and abroad. This increased participation is "extremely significant" within the context of the "traditionally very patriarchal" Arab-Israeli society. Their contact with the Women's Platform has, according to this report, helped unlock "the enormous potential of these women to bring about positive change as leaders in their communities". At an individual level, Sawt el-Amel reports increased skills and self-confidence of participating women to stand up for their own and their families' rights in public.

Reportedly, on the whole, men have come to be very supportive of the women's activism, with many ultimately agreeing to take part in events organised and led by the Women's Platform. "Men in the community (and in Sawt el-Amel itself) seem to have realised, and to appreciate, the benefits of women's shared participation in the struggle against the Wisconsin Plan....Indeed, the Women's Platform is now fully integrated into the leadership structure of Sawt el-Amel..."

One argument explored here is that the Women's Platform has been so successful in motivating women to act, and in maintaining men's support for that action, precisely because it has never sought to overtly challenge existing ideas about gender roles and relations in Arab-Israeli society. For instance, Sawt el-Amel initiated no discussion about whether men taking on more responsibility for childcare would be one solution to the difficulties faced by women participating in the Wisconsin Plan, but it is clear that some redistribution of responsibilities must have taken place within the households of these new women activists in order for them to have the time to participate in this activism on a regular basis, and to travel to attend conferences and events. "As a strategy for bringing about change, it is debatable whether prompting a direct discussion on existing gender roles would have been anywhere near as effective."

"As Sawt el-Amel's director put it, five years ago, having women active on the Steering Committee of the organisation would have been unthinkable....The fact that they are now in this position indicates the degree to which women's activities against the Wisconsin Plan have challenged gendered power relations within this community. Being active on the Steering Committee allows Women's Platform members to contribute to the strategic development of Sawt el-Amel, ensuring that further projects aimed specifically at women are developed, and that a gender perspective is integrated into Sawt el-Amel's overall programme." To build their capacity to act effectively in this new activist position, the Women's Platform launched a Grassroots Women's Leadership Development project. This has provided the opportunity for Arab-Israeli women to develop the skills to stand up for their rights, advocate on behalf of themselves and their families and communities, and become effective leaders.

Email from Helen Moreno to The Communication Initiative on February 24 2009.