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

Part Ii: Family, Community, Society

This part of the report addresses the life contexts of child sexual abuse survivors and the ways in which survivors perceive their families and their society. Child sexual abuse does not occur in a vacuum; it is always influenced by the immediate surroundings and the broader surroundings in which the child lives and develops. The survivors thus describe the role of the family and the community in the context of child sexual abuse, and the huge impact they have on the survivors both in childhood and in adulthood. This part concludes with the messages that survivors seek to convey to children suffering abuse and to the children they once were. | 1. Intra-familial sexual abuse In about 50% of the testimonies submitted to the public inquiry, the perpetrator of the abuse was a member of their family. In some cases, the sexual abuse even involved several perpetrators in the family; in these cases, the survivors described a complex form of abuse that included relationships based on control and exploitation within the family fabric. In cases of intra familial sexual abuse, survivors shared the great confusion with which they must cope and the great difficulty of perceiving the abuse as an anomalous and harmful act, since this was the reality in which they grew up. Messages to families of child sexual abuse victims Many testimonies to the inquiry conveyed messages to the families of abused children. These messages describe the complexity of growing up as children who had suffered sexual abuse, the great importance of receiving support from the family, and the difficulties caused by the lack of such support.

The Israeli Independent Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

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