The Israeli Independent Public - Abstract of the Inquiry Report - December 2021

| 2. The health system A thorough analysis of the inquiry’s findings showed that the health system is highly important in shaping survivors’ experiences, both in childhood and in adulthood. The survivors sought to emphasize the central and critical role of the health system in identifying, preventing, and treating child sexual abuse. They also emphasized its role in helping child abuse survivors cope with post-traumatic symptoms in their adult lives. In over 27% of cases, survivors described the consequences of the abuse in terms of mental and physical health in adulthood and throughout life. The findings paint a grim picture of survivors’ experience of the Israeli health system. Survivors reported suffering from many health issues, some as a direct consequence of the severe and ongoing abuse they experienced, others related to post-traumatic physical symptoms. For example, they describe that their body “reacted” to the abuse and “spoke” about it, but there was no one to listen and understand that the body’s reaction and “story” had to do with the abuse. A prominent issue in the survivors’ testimonies was that no attempt was made to make their right to health accessible to them. As children, they believed they could only turn to the health system in case of a severe injury, and thus remained wounded and in pain for many years with no treatment. The survivors describe health problems such as recurring pain, digestion issues, nausea, gynecological issues, recurring infections, and so on. However, despite repeated visits to health clinics, doctors or other medical staff did not ask them whether they had been subjected to any abuse. One survivor shared that all the many diagnoses she had received in her life – eating disorders, depression and anxiety, borderline personality disorder – were the result of one thing: sexual abuse in childhood. Moreover, the findings show that in their adult lives as well, the survivors find it particularly difficult to undergo medical examinations and procedures. Medical interventions such as dental appointments, gynecological examinations, and

The Israeli Independent Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

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