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

The Authority for the Protection of Children should include representatives of all the systems relevant to child protection so as to create a continuity of services, with an emphasis on prevention of maltreatment in childhood, the promotion of children’s rights in Israel, and the provision of high-quality services to children and adult survivors of child sexual abuse. The authority will promote a multi-disciplinary approach and will prepare a protocol for the intervention sequence. In addition, it will initiate projects for prevention and education of the public, which will include the provision of information and guidance to children and to parents in Israel. The inquiry members wish to emphasize, too, that among the different services and treatments for children, it is vital to promote: (1) systems that are aware of children’s rights; (2) systems that are adapted and accessible to all the children of Israel, from diverse communities in the country. The inquiry members wish to emphasize that sexual abuse that occurs in childhood obliges the state to take full responsibility and devise methods of prevention and intervention that uphold the right of children in Israel to safety and security. Furthermore, the inquiry members wish to underline that prevention and intervention in cases of intra-familial sexual abuse require special preparation, including amendments to the law. This is because today, the law only protects children up to the age of 14 in cases of intra-familial abuse; the state should allow all children up to the age of 18 to be legally protected. The inquiry members wish to emphasize that alongside the broad recommendation that professionals from all systems that come into contact with children undergo relevant training as a condition of working in the field, it is necessary to focus on beneficial and effective training that has the potential of promoting the protection of children and providing an appropriate and tailored response. Such training should be lengthy, based on up-to-date bodies of knowledge in the field of child sexual abuse, and focused on knowledge alongside practical skills and changing professional attitudes towards the victims.

The Israeli Independent Public Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse

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