The actions of the Association of Aid Centers for Victims of Sexual Assault/PR
Since the seventh of October, Israeli society as a whole is going through an upheaval.
Along with the many dead, the abducted and the abducted, the settlements that were destroyed and the residents who were displaced from their homes, we also had to deal with the evidence of sexual violence by Hamas terrorists against women, men and youth.
But from the first moment, along with the difficulty of digesting the evidence, we also had to deal with denial and silence from the world, and in particular from those we considered allies in the struggle.
In this situation, the association of assistance centers for victims and victims of sexual assault came into the picture.
Along with the growing need for assistance to victims on the home front, the union worked to establish and adapt torture centers for those injured in the war in Israel, and to break the silence and the international silence.
Orit Soliciano, CEO of the Association of Aid Centers: "Already in the first week of the war, concrete information about the acts of rape and sexual violence from the day of the massacre began to arrive at our door.
Out of the general astonishment and grief, we realized that the hourglass was working against us, and we hurriedly turned it over to the Red Cross demanding that they address the issue and act without delay for the immediate release of all the abductees.
This was the first official reference on the subject, which allowed us to start placing the issue on the agenda."
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"Influential organizations in the world chose to remain silent in the face of the atrocities"/PR
International advocacy activity
Orit Soliciano, CEO of the Union of Aid Centers: "To our disappointment, while the dimensions of the terrible disaster that befell us continued to hit us with their full force, influential organizations in the world chose to remain silent in the face of the horrors - which forced us to launch a large-scale outreach campaign that included interviews with dozens of media outlets foreigners, participation in international conferences on behalf of Harvard University and the UN's CEDAW and meetings with various international parties, among them; members of the French Parliament, members of the Australian Parliament, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Commissioner for Human Rights in Germany."
As part of the task undertaken by the union, factual information about the cases of rape and sexual violence that occurred in the massacre was presented on various platforms, including the resounding investigation of the New York Times.
Protest against the thundering silence of the UN Women
One of the "symbols" of the thundering silence in the face of the horrors of sexual violence is the UN breathing organization, UN WOMEN.
The union initiated a demonstration with the participation of the women's lobby in Israel in front of the UN headquarters in Jerusalem, which received a great response in the media in Israel and the world. A few days after it, the UN WOMEN published for the first time a statement condemning, after 8 weeks of silence, the brutal sexual assaults carried out by Hamas terrorists
Creation and adaptation of torture devices for the victims of the war
Since the outbreak of the war, the union has been involved in the design of mental ,
health, legal and social torture devices for victims and victims of sexual violence, witnesses of sexual violence and families. In this framework, the union initiated and participated in the Knesset debates in the health committees, the rights of the child, the promotion of the status of women and more, prepared documents Worked for government offices, cooperated with the professional bodies, submitted recommendations for the establishment and expansion of therapeutic torture centers and more.
At the same time, the union took care of the treatment that victims would receive. As part of these efforts, we appealed to the Commissioner of Police and the Ministry of Health to prevent the transfer of information from hospitals about victims of sexual assault without their express consent.
Leading the "Takuma" team for the treatment of sexual injuries
The union was chosen to head the team for the treatment of sexual injuries in the Takuma Directorate, which is in charge of the rehabilitation of the surrounding area.
The team submitted a document of conclusions and recommendations to the state, including the training of therapeutic and educational teams for an adapted response to sexual trauma, the construction of age-based resilience circles and the expansion of the existing therapeutic interventions in the surrounding settlements for victims and victims of sexual violence who were affected by the October 7th attack and before.
Gathering knowledge and tools to deal with sexual violence during war
Until today, the knowledge and professional experience in dealing with war crimes of sexual violence is scarce.
To deal with this new and heartbreaking field, the union produced a series of online sessions on sexual and gender-based violence in wartime.
In this framework, we hosted expertise from around the world who shared with us their knowledge and experience in dealing with sexual abuse in the Balkan wars, the Ukraine war and more.
The sessions were produced in collaboration with the Israeli Association for Victimology and the Ono Academic Council.
Even with the outbreak of the war, tens of thousands of residents and residents, among them many girls and boys, were evacuated from their homes and moved to live in reception centers throughout the country.
Yael Tal Foa - Head of Education Headquarters at the Union of Aid Centers: "In our experience, when there is a lack of stability and private spaces - maintaining the personal safety of children is more complex. Therefore, in addition to our activity in the parliamentary arena, we produced informational materials and went to the evacuation centers to raise awareness of the protection for the safety of the children and youth."
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"Thousands of victims and victims of crime who were harmed as a result of the massacre and its consequences are not aware of the rights they are legally entitled to"/public relations
The Lilac Project: Aid to the victims and victims of crime who were harmed as a result of the massacre and its consequences
Carmit Keller Halamish - head of the research department of the Association of Aid Centers: "Thousands of victims and victims of crime who were harmed as a result of the massacre and its consequences (families of the murdered, prisoners and returnees, victims and victims of sexual violence) are not aware of their rights to them by law."
Therefore, we joined the initiative of Prof. Dana Pugach and the families of the abducted and missing
to establish the "Lilac Project", which is designed to help the victims of the crime to exhaust their rights before the authorities.
It is named after the late Lilach Kipnis, a social worker and volunteer of the Negev Assistance Center (Maslan) who was murdered on the seventh of October."
The accessibility of the national trauma helplines
may present a particularly great difficulty to victims of sexual violence, who are already dealing with existing trauma. But despite increasing The distress, many feel that they are not "important" at the moment, and are ashamed to ask for help. Against this background, the union launched the campaign "Your pain has a place", to remind that even at this time it is possible and desirable to ask for help. The campaign has been running for the past months on channels 12 and 13 and on social networks
We will continue to act to help victims and victims of sexual assault anywhere and in any arena.
We are here for you for support, assistance, information and accompaniment in legal proceedings:
at the help lines that operate 24/7:
1202
- assistance by women
1203 - assistance by men
2511* - Help for ultra-Orthodox and religiosity
in Kolmila - help in our network via anonymous chat or WhatsApp >>
To donate to the Association of Assistance Centers for Victims and Victims of Sexual Assault, click here.
If you are also a registered association and interested in submitting a request to receive a donation, enter: Our commitment to volunteering and working for the community | PMI - Israel - HE
In cooperation with the Association of Assistance Centers for Victims of Sexual Assault with the assistance of Philip Morris Ltd
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