To begin with, get-refusal is not just the fault of few bad men
By Susan Weiss
Published in the Times of Israel Blogs
MAR 16, 2022, 11:01 AM
Under Jewish and Israeli law, a Jewish husband can hold his wife hostage to their dead marriage until he agrees to divorce her of his own free will, and on his own terms. The Fast of Esther, falling this year on March 16th, is the day set aside by the Jewish community as “Agunah Day,” when we stand in solidarity with agunot (pl. for agunah) — women held in marital captivity by recalcitrant husbands who take advantage of this patriarchal privilege.
In honor of Agunah Day, here are five widespread myths about the agunah problem.
1. Misconception: The agunah problem is limited to a few bad Jewish men.
Truth: The agunah problem is pervasive and affects all Jewish women who marry in traditional religious ceremonies.
All Jewish women who marry in a traditional religious ceremony are technically agunot — bound to their husbands until the men free them from the bonds of holy matrimony (via divorce or death). The relatively few agunot you hear about are those who want their husbands to release them, and whose husbands refuse or are unable to do so. The rest of us Jewish women/agunot remain in our gilded cages, unaware of the bars surrounding us and the fact that our husbands who hold the only keys to our freedom.
What’s more, the agunah problem is not limited to Jewish women. Though the term “agunah” is a Hebrew one reserved for Jewish women, women of other ethnicities who marry in accordance with their religious customary laws can also be held in marital captivity. Muslim, Catholic, and Hindu women, for example, can also find themselves trapped (see Femmes for Freedom, which advocates for women in marital captivity throughout Europe).
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