Ikea sued for discrimination over ultra-Orthodox brochure sans females
Ikea in Israel is being sued for gender discrimination over a catalog marketed towards the ultra-Orthodox community intentionally excludes pictures of women and girls.
The Israeli branch of the Swedish furniture branch in the past was forced to apologize for the catalog that had been scrubbed of images of females.
The marketing campaign was Ikea's first such attempt to reach out to the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community, which makes up around 10 percent of Israel's population and lives in compliance with a strict interpretation of Jewish laws.
The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday was petitioned to approve the multi-million dollar suit against Ikea filed by the Israel Religious Action Center, a Jewish Reform advocacy group, and Hannah Katsman, a modern Orthodox woman.
“The total exclusion of women and girls from the catalog sends a serious and difficult message that women have no value and there is something wrong with their presence, even in the family-home space depicted in the catalog,” the suit alleges, according to Haaretz.
“This discrimination and exclusion has severely insulted, angered and traumatized those who received the catalog,” it added. “The damage caused by this exclusion affects much larger circles and has the potential to harm the status of women in society in general and in ultra-Orthodox society in particular.”
The male-only catalog, featuring ultra-Orthodox models, was distributed for a short time in 2016 and was published in addition to the regular Ikea brochure.
The male-only catalogue highlights items in demand among ultra-Orthodox families, which tend to be large, such as bunk beds and bookshelves to handle extensive collections on Jewish law.
The cover shows an ultra-Orthodox man gazing into an open book standing next to a bookshelf packed with Jewish scriptures and a large silver menora candelabrum, with two boys playing on the carpet nearby.
"Designed especially for you," read the Hebrew words below the large blue "IKEA".
that had served as the furniture giant's first attempt to reach out to the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community.
Some ultra-Orthodox Jews follow a strict policy of gender segregation, and images of women and girls are frequently removed from advertisements aimed at that community.
A spokeswoman for Ikea in Sweden stressed that their brand "stands for equal rights".
"We find that the local publication from Ikea Israel does not live up to this," she said, noting that "the franchisee in Israel takes this seriously" and will "safeguard that future publications are in line with what our brand stands for".
Shuky Koblenz, chief executive of Ikea in Israel, said they issued a "customised" brochure in February aimed at the ultra-Orthodox "in an attempt to reach this minority community in Israel".
"We realise that people are upset about this and that the publication does not live up to what Ikea stands for and we apologise for this," he said in a statement.
"We will make sure that future publications will reflect what Ikea stands for and at the same time show respect for the Haredi community," he said, using the Hebrew term for the ultra-Orthodox.
Ikea, with nearly 400 stores in 48 countries worldwide, has four branches in Israel with a fifth under construction. A planned limited stock store is also due to begin construction in Tel Aviv's port.