100,000 children in Israel have been sexually assaulted

A national poll reveals that some 100,000 children in Israel have been sexually assaulted, but only 2.5 percent of the incidents are reported to the proper authorities. The poll, presented at a National Council for the Child conference in Be'er Sheva on Monday, encompassed 500 polled parents. The poll shows that 5 percent o f the parents reported that their children had been sexually harassed, and a quarter of the parents never told their children to avoid contact with strangers. Education Minister Yuli Tamir, who participated in the conference, presented data from the Central Bureau of Statistics indicating a 25 percent decline in high school drop-outs over the last three years. However, the data also shows that 22,000 students, or four percent of the national student body, still dropped out last year. According to Tamir, the decline in the drop out rate stems from a special program initiated by the Education Ministry. Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, who also attended the conference, said Monday that "we must take action to alleviate the suffering of the children living in Sderot and other communities bordering Gaza, rather than being affected only by pictures of children in Gaza lighting candles in the dark." Beinisch's remark came several days after Israel began reducing the supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip in efforts to pressure militants into halting the ongoing rocket fire on Israeli towns close to the border with the Strip. The chief justice also addressed the issue of juvenile delinquency, and said the rate of delinquency will not go down until the state invests adequate resources in preventing it. According to Beinisch, there exists a severe shortage of parole officers and experts in treatment of juvenile delinquents. "In these fields, the gap between the law and the execution of the law is a gap exemplifying our failure as a society," she said. "A justice system, as advanced as it may be, can't ensure by itself a healthy safe and complete society," Beinisch added, "the legal proceedings of minors are habitually delayed due to lack of resources at all levels." Haaretz