The leader of Israel's first ultra-Orthodox Jewish women's party said today that it is fighting in next month's general election to give a voice to a deeply downtrodden group.
Ruth Colian, a 33-year-old mother of four, told journalists that she founded the party -- "B'Zchutan: Haredi Women Making Change" -- to combat wage discrimination, domestic violence and health problems suffered by many ultra-Orthodox women.
The ultra-Orthodox, who make up about 10 percent of Israel's population and are known as haredi in Hebrew, are a powerful political force in the Jewish state but do not accept women candidates.
Israel is holding a general election on March 17 and Colian said her party has registered nine candidates for the vote.
Among the key issues the party will be promoting, she said, are health problems suffered by women in the community.
She said, for example, that ultra-Orthodox women suffer twice the national average rate of breast cancer deaths, largely because discussion and information on screening are considered "immodest" and therefore taboo.
When parliament's health committee held a special session on the issue in November, not one of its 18 ultra-Orthodox MPs -- all men -- attended.
"It was like a punch in the stomach," she said. "Because we have no representation nobody hears our voice. We are at the bottom of the food chain."
Colian said she believes the party could win five or six seats in the 120-member Knesset, but she has no polling data to support that view.
She admitted the party is struggling financially, having raised a campaign fund of just 7,500 shekels (USD 1,900/1,700 euros) from private donors.
And even if word of the party spreads, Colian said she worries that few ultra-Orthodox women will feel free to vote for it.
"The haredi woman votes according to what her husband tells her, which is whatever the rabbis decree," Colian said.
