The Gender Index, the result of innovative and groundbreaking development by the Center for the Advancement of Women in the Public Sphere (WIPS) at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, is a tool for broad evaluation of the level of inequality between men and women in Israel over time. It provides a detailed picture of the state of inequality in eight areas (work, education, health, poverty, violence, political representation, center-periphery relations, and Arab society) and makes it possible to give an overall score for the level of gender inequality in Israel on the basis of the aggregate of factors that determine the status of women in society.

Unlike other gender indexes, which compare Israel to other countries on the basis of a very small number of variables, the WIPS Gender Index is the first of its kind to examine gender inequality in a broad range of areas within Israel. The Gender Index makes it possible to examine directions of development in each area and in each component, and at the same time to offer an overall picture of the state of gender inequality in Israel. In this lies its unique contribution and its ability to serve as a policy compass for decision makers as well as government and public bodies in Israel. The Gender Index also provides women’s organizations and other civil society groups a platform for their activity related to changing gendered power relations and promoting gender justice in Israel.

The electronic volume is available in both Hebrew and English.