Teasing and Humiliation: Permanent Women Expose Abusive Commanders | Israel today

A number of permanent women have revealed in recent days that they have experienced a severe mask of mental abuse by their commanders, which included teasing, humiliation and injury to human dignity.

The women reported being burned by an excessive sense of power of officers, who felt that everything was allowed to them due to the senior ranks on their shoulders.

The revelations, mostly anonymous, were posted on a closed Facebook group of permanent women, called "Eshet Chayil."

The first maid to expose her past mental abuse wrote that an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel, who served as its direct commander, simply abused her soul.

After five months under the direct command of the same officer, she collapsed in her office, was taken to the IDF Permanent Institute for treatment, and received three months of mental benefits.

To this day the same officer suffers from post-trauma and copes with various symptoms.

Her condition is so serious that she has even been recognized as a post-trauma victim by the Ministry of Defense's Rehabilitation and Families Division.

"To you, the current Chief of Staff, to those who follow you, to the General Staff Forum and the senior officer in the IDF in general - I appeal to you to examine in depth any report of an incident of mental abuse. "Just as there is no forgiveness for sexual harassment, so it is necessary to act in cases of mental harassment, for such harassment scars you for life and changes you forever, if it does not kill you along the way." 

Pandora's box opened

The post of that brave officer opened a Pandora's box in the closed group, following which quite a few women published their personal stories.

One of the women even shared that she almost tried to commit suicide by placing a train in front of a passing train.

"I almost left my babies, my beautiful children, without a mother," she wrote, "because of the humiliations, teasing, pettiness, disproportionate criticism, throwing accusations, shouting, knocking on the table, violation of individual rights, violation of professional occupation, violation of my livelihood. "Because I could no longer cope, I almost did something out of the ordinary."

The same officer wrote that the many posts made her realize "that this is a problem that the system not only does not know how to deal with, but also sweeps the stories under the rug, and backs up the harassers and the violent. "Wide, and it happens because the system allows it to happen. Such commanders, professional as they may be, should be condemned, from the military, from command and leadership positions. We must not abandon our lives in the hands of such commanders! It is forbidden!"

It is probable that the IDF leadership was familiar with these publications, since the Eshet Chayil group wrote that the General Staff's day on the subject of "Dear Man" that took place in the IDF recently was intended to address these unacceptable phenomena. In practice, the main trigger for the day is the case of Lt. Gen. Dan Sharoni, who photographed dozens of female soldiers in intimate situations without their knowledge.

The IDF spokesman responded: "The reporter did not present the posts in question for a substantive response.

Given a specific case it will be tested and treated.

The IDF condemns harm, whether verbal, physical or invasion of privacy, and adopts the principle of zero tolerance for all cases of harm to servants.

"In the IDF, great efforts are made in order to create an atmosphere of security in all the different units, through the assimilation and processing of values, through audits, and the establishment of various reporting mechanisms.

About two weeks ago, there was a systematic detention (day, in which everything is stopped and focused on a specific issue; LS), a systematic one designed to deal with incidents of this kind and clarify the importance of human dignity.

"The IDF also encourages contact with competent bodies on the subject for further treatment and provides a shell for anyone who requires it."

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