JNS
One in three female IDF conscripts reported being sexually harassed since enlisting, the state comptroller reports.
More than 70% of sexual assault accusations received by Israel’s police and other security agencies were either mishandled or not handled at all, according to a State Comptroller’s Report published on Monday.
An audit team visited seven high-security prisons and spoke with around 150 conscripts serving there. The State Comptroller’s Office also questioned around 13,000 active-duty soldiers and former soldiers who had completed their mandatory service.
Thirty-eight percent of conscripts serving in the Israel Prison System reported sexual abuse, with 70% of it committed by a career staffer or a commander.
This came after reports of sexual abuse at Gilboa Prison. In August, Israeli President Isaac Herzog called for an investigation into allegations that the commanders of the maximum security prison “pimped” female guards to prisoners.
“It appears that the Gilboa scandal was just the tip of the iceberg,” said State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman.
The researchers concluded that 25% of women performing their mandatory service, which usually starts at age 18, suffered sexual abuse.
In the Israeli military, 33% of female conscripts reported being sexually harassed at least once since enlisting.
Caption: Police officers and prison guards outside Gilboa Prison in northern Israel, Sept. 6, 2021.
Photo by Flash90.
