10% rise in physical, sexual abuse of children in Israel

Physical and sexual abuse against minors in Israel increased by 10 per cent last year, a report issued by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services on Monday revealed.

According to Arab48, the report added that around 48,000 cases of abuse against minors were reported in 2016 compared to 43,000 cases in 2015.

Thirty-one per cent of cases relate to the neglect of minors, 25 per cent to physical violence, 12 per cent to sexual abuse and six per cent to emotional abuse.

It also found that abuse against male children was higher than females and 80 per cent of these abuses were carried out by family members, including 3.4 per cent by siblings.

According to the report, the ministry did not explain the reasons for the spike in violence, but noted the acute lack of social workers who are able to deal with such cases.

The report pointed out that some local municipalities do not have social workers who are entitled to deal with minors while others have insufficient social workers for the number of cases they are dealing with.

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