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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| First-ever Arabic hotline for male victims of sexual abuse opens in Tel Aviv |
| 2017-09-10 |
| [IsraelTimes] Initiative launched after study found Arab boys nearly 60% more likely to be victims than their female counterparts. In November 2016, researchers at Haifa University published a startling finding: Arab boys in Israel were much more likely to be sexually abused than either their female counterparts, or Jewish boys and girls. Nearly 30% of Arab boys in Israel surveyed said they’d been victims of sexual assault. That’s in comparison to 17-18% of Arab girls, or Jewish boys and girls, who reported being sexually assaulted. Chen Avidar, 32, a Jewish Ph.D. student at Tel Aviv University studying to become a therapist, took notice of this phenomenon and two months ago opened the first-ever sexual assault hotline for Arab men in Arabic. The new hotline, which is part of the Tel Aviv Sexual Assault Crisis Center, is meant to serve both Arab Israelis and Paleostinians. Eran Han, the manager of the center, said the decision to provide services to Paleostinians was made "the moment we decided to be accessible to Arab men" in Israel. Advertisements for the hotline have a specific number for Paleostinians to use, because the regular number for the hotline is only usable in Israel. Han added that in the past the center had given aid to Arab men, but only in Hebrew. Paleostinian women already have sexual abuse hotlines in Jerusalem and Ramallah. There also two 24/7 hotlines for female Arab victims of sexual assault in Israel in Arabic and nine different hotlines for women in Hebrew. The Haifa University study that discovered the high rate of sexual abuse suffered by Arab boys said it was the largest survey of its kind ever. The study was based on data collected from 12,035 Jewish and Arab students, in 6th, 8th and 10th grade. The study found that Arab children reported higher maltreatment than their Jewish counterparts in all categories tested for ‐ including physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse. The study also found that Arab boys reported higher levels of abuse than Arab girls in all categories tested for, except for exposure to domestic violence. Explanations for the higher rate of abuse among Arabs in general, the report said, include different "culture-specific parenting styles practiced in minority cultures," as well as the fact that the Arab community in Israel, compared with the Jewish majority, is characterized by higher rates of poverty and unemployment. Another explanation given is that Arab Israelis generally live in rural areas, where they have less access to social and welfare services. As to why Arab boys are particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse, the study does not provide any explanations, but Avidar said during his research he has managed to come up with a few. Arab boys are far less supervised than Arab girls, he said, and this leaves them "more exposed to perpetrators outside of the family context." He added that potential victimizers understand there are higher consequences for abusing girls, including possible pregnancy and the initiation of a blood feud between families. There is also the fact that when girls are sexually abused, it leaves the evidence of a broken hymen. Girls are also more afraid of being blamed for their victimhood, he said, so it’s likely they report sexual abuse less. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #5 Remember: 1) All cultures are equal! 2) Who are we to judge? /s |
| Posted by: Frank G 2017-09-10 12:55 |
| #4 They carefully list every common social factor for the victimization but nothing about perpetration. Perhaps, "because that's the way they are" is too descriptive. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2017-09-10 11:12 |
| #3 Sometimes the goats run too fast. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2017-09-10 05:41 |
| #2 Not to be confused with male on goat sexual abuse. |
| Posted by: Raj 2017-09-10 04:15 |
| #1 the article doesn't say but, based on the culture, this is almost certainly male on male sexual abuse |
| Posted by: lord garth 2017-09-10 00:08 |