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Rape in the Holyland: 21,000 people seek help
By Ruth Sinai
November 22, 2004
More than 21,000 women and men applied for help at sexual assault crisis
centers in Israel in the first nine months of 2004, according to figures
released Sunday in preparation for the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women, to be held around the world this Thursday.
Locally, the day will be marked by a rally and prayer session organized by the
Israeli association of sexual assault crisis centers.
The association reported that nearly 5,600 of the calls were initial appeals
from women reporting they had been raped or sexually assaulted in some other
manner. The association predicts that the total call volume in 2004 will be
between 5-10 percent higher than in 2003.
A breakdown of the reporting pattern shows that some 28 percent of applicants
were raped by one individual or a group of people; 16 percent fell victim to
incest; and the rest were subjected to molestation, sexual harassment, and
other forms of assault. More than a third of victims - some 36 percent - were
assaulted when they were under age 12. Around a quarter were attacked during
adolescence.
In 2003, crisis centers received 31,104 calls, of which nearly 7,000 were
initial calls. Men accounted for about 14 percent of the calls, and the number
of men appealing for help continues to rise.
As in past years, some 40 percent of this year's female victims were assaulted
in their homes, 11 percent were assaulted in the attacker's residence, and the
rest in schools, universities, and places of employment. Only a small share of
the assaults occurred in public spaces.
According to the latest data, 22 percent of all applicants also filed police
complaints and pursued criminal proceedings against their attackers - double
the number before the crisis centers' association launched a legal assistance
project. However, as in other countries, it is estimated that only 10 percent
of sexual assault victims in Israel apply to crisis centers.
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