1 in 3 Israeli women have experienced sexual abuse

Israeli Public Security Ministry has found that one third of women in this country are sexually abused.


The Israeli ministry made the announcement based on its recently formulated Violence Against Women Index, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

The paper said divorcees were the main target of sexual abuse.

The number of divorced women, killed in violence, has increased remarkably since 2008. Most of the dead are of the Ethiopian nationality.

Israel said last Thursday that it would close down a psychiatric hospital over widespread allegations of physical and sexual abuse of patients by the staff.

The announcement was made as the Israeli police questioned 75 of the staff members on suspicion of offenses including physically or sexually assaulting vulnerable mental patients.

In January, a study conducted by Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry's Research and Economics Administration indicated that 11.4 percent of working women had been sexually harassed at workplace in 2011.

The survey showed that 35 percent of these women had been harassed by their direct superior.

Two renowned researchers, Ronit Harris and Osnat Fichtelberg-Barmatz, warned at the time that the victims of sexual harassment would face health problems.

“In instances where the harassed women need to work for financial reasons, or simply like their work, they hesitate to confront the harasser,” they said. “They are in a state of emotional distress and there's no doubt it has an influence on their productivity and their health.”

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