No clemency for sex offenders Rivlin tells Association of Rape Crisis Centers

One of them by the name of Shira said that in starting a security and safety campaign among high schoolers, she met not so much with opposition as with indifference.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
The ultimate decider: President Reuven Rivlin (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The ultimate decider: President Reuven Rivlin
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
There will be no clemency for sex offenders or attackers of women, President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday told a large group of representatives of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers.
The delegation headed by ARCC  Orit Sulitzieano  had come to present Rivlin the  Association's report for 2018 in booklet, but because Rivlin was pressed for time in his efforts to persuade the two largest political parties to form a unity government, there was no opportunity for Sulitzieano to quote statistics, but she managed to voice two complaints.
One was that although the Education Ministry was trying to do something to protect youth from sexual abuse, it wasn't doing enough; and the other was that the justice system is much too lenient with rapists and often lets them get off scot-free, while the victim is left to suffer.
Two of the younger women  present, one of whom is currently completing her civilian national service, spoke of an education program in schools that is being conducted by ARCC in the hope that students will take notice of people who are closer to them in age.
One of them by the name of Shira said that in starting a security and safety campaign among high schoolers, she met not so much with opposition as with indifference. 
Most people didn't think it was relevant. Others were simply not interested, and one told her that it didn't affect him, because he was a boy. But she persisted and now has a cohesive force.
"People are just not interested until it happens to them," she said. 
Sulitzieano told Rivlin that the situation regarding sexually abused youth is critical.
In fact the report states that in 2018, there 51,0 reports of sexual abuse, representing a 40% rise since 2014. Of these, 63% of the victims were aged between 12-18 and 60% of the total number of those who reported had been minors at the time that they had been abused.
Several of the women remarked among themselves that the report contained  statistics pertaining only to known cases, but that there were many more women who did not report for reasons of fear or shame or because they were convinced that no-one would believe them.
Sulitzieano thanked Rivlin for his support of ARCC and for making himself available for ARCC events.
Rivlin credited his late wife Nechama for making him  aware of how badly women were treated in Israel.
He had tried to raise the issue in the Knesset and the government with no success, but when he was Speaker of the Knesset and was approached to approve a  Knesset committee on the status of women, he had readily agreed.
Knesset committees discuss economy and security, but pay insufficient attention to social issues, said Rivlin.
Attitudes to women have improved as a result of Me Too revolution in which many victims of sexual abuse have found the courage to share their stories, he continued.
Norms have changed he added. "Whoever doesn't understand that there has been a change in the status of women must learn to change their attitude. There are still people who think that rules don't apply to them."
Explaining why he would never accede to an application for clemency from someone who had attacked a woman, Rivlin said: "It's not just the physical assault. It's an attack on her sensitivities with far-reaching consequences. It's intolerable and unforgivable."