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To clear its ranks of sexual harassment, police need root canal treatment
Despite the trauma the organization went through, when some of its senior members were forced to retire due to complaints of sexual harassment, the police are still not acting as required by law to end the phenomenon. Treatment through enforcement, education and fines on the organization, will drive the desired change
Tags- Israel Police
- Sexual harassment
- Sexual harassment
- Tried Shaham
- Uri Bar Lev
Hila Erel-Shemesh
Wednesday, 12 August 2020, 23:37We have not yet managed to digest the Nisso Shaham case, whose appeal was rejected and therefore he will want ten months in prison, and here is another case from the house of the creator of the Israel Police. This time in the case of a senior deputy, who, according to a police officer, photographed her intimate organs without her consent and distributed the photos to her colleagues.
If there is truth in her words, then it is a blatant violation of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act, which in 2014 was amended by adding section 5A, according to which sexual harassment is also "publishing a photograph, film or recording of a person focusing on his sexuality, in circumstances where the publication may humiliate or demean the person. , And his consent was not given for publication ", a unique section born in the age of video distribution.
The latest case shows that despite the trauma the organization went through, after a large number of its senior members were forced to retire due to complaints of sexual harassment, and even after the earthquakes created by the affair of Uri Bar-Lev and especially Shaham - our police still find it difficult to hide the disturbing phenomenon. From the experience gained in the world and in Israel, it can be assumed that the reason for this is the fact that the police do not address the problem from the root - through training and education, and focus on punishing police officers who are discovered after the act and exposing it.
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The problem is that the lack of training not only leads to these phenomena, but is already a violation of the law regarding the police: regulations for the prevention of sexual harassment oblige the police as part of the "security forces", as well as higher education institutions, to ensure training and information to prevent sexual harassment and harassment , At least once a year.
By law, every employee in the organization must be made aware of the regulations, as well as provide information on how to file the complaint and assistance services. The regulations also require the police to submit once a year to the Authority for the Advancement of Women and the Committee for the Advancement of Women in the Knesset, a report detailing the various actions taken by the Institute for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment in its area, and the number of complaints filed with the institution.
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To the full article
Retired Superintendent Shaham tried to appeal his sentence in court (Photo: Miriam Elster, Flash 90)And yet, despite all these legal obligations, the Israel Police is failing to clear its ranks of sexual harassment and illicit romances. There is a serious problem here. As the authority in charge of law enforcement, the Israel Police is an institution that has a double and double duty to prevent and provide information on the subject. If such cases are recurring in the police, why should we be observed by other organizations, which do not trust law enforcement to properly address the issue.
This week, the Committee for the Advancement of Women held a discussion on the program, which includes a series of bills to address the phenomenon of sexual harassment and violence against women, a national program formulated by the Centers for Victims of Sexual Assault to eradicate and treat the phenomenon.
One of the principles of the program is the obligation to train law enforcement personnel, as a condition of employment and treatment of victims of sexual offenses. This is great, but given the reality it is not enough. Not only police officers who deal directly with victims of sexual offenses must be faithful to the law on sexual harassment. It is possible that in order to eradicate the phenomenon of sexual harassment in the police, the existing legal obligations on the police in the matter must be further enforced, especially in the matter of educational-legal means, and in cases of violation fine the police in one budget or another, in addition to statutory sanctions.
Hila Erel-Shemesh is a lawyer
