(This text was published by Yehudit Shahar, in the Asimon website for women in Israel: http://www.asimon.co.il/ArticlePage.aspx?AID=11275&AcatID=41)
On Monday, 17/6/2014, the tenth session of “Young Women’s Parliament” was held in the “Notsr” Theater in Bat-Yam. The Parliament session, which was moderated by Anat Livnat, advisor on the status of women to the Mayor of Bat Yam, chairwoman of the Bat-Yam Women’s Council and chairwoman of the Association of the Women Advisors, dealt with the attitude of the education and welfare systems to the absent sense of physical and sexual security of girls and young women in the public areas, in the educational institutions and in entertainment venues.
The session opened with the play, “Everybody’s on me”, by the “Na’ara” (young woman) Theater, featuring young women from Ramat-Yoseph, and directed by Keren Cohen Israeli and the social moderator Shani Elbaz. The play dealt with dilemmas of truth and concealing; how much can and should one reveal? Of what do young women dare to speak, and what does the media raise for public discourse? The play portrayed physical and mental “rape” that is caused daily to young women by publishing their photographs on the web without their knowledge or consent, and furthermore, the effect of these violent acts on the daily lives of the young women and their families.
Afterwards, a panel discussion was held with the participation of young women from Bat-Yam, Kfar-Saba, Jisr az-Zarqa and Petah-Tikva, who presented their experiences and insights regarding the question: Who is responsible for their security? Is there a reliable address for their complaints about the injury to their body and to their dignity? Alongside them, were women representing social systems, parents’ representatives, local authorities, Student Council, and the media.
The panel was moderated by Dafna Eisenrich, head of Education Department, Tel Aviv Sexual Assault Crisis Center. Esther-Perron – head of Education Department, Bat Yam municipality, Anat Mordechai – journalist at “La’Isha” magazine, and Ruth Valenti – chairwoman of the Bat-Yam junior and high school PTA participated in the panel.
Young men and women from different localities were invited to the meeting, as well as Prof. Esther Hertzog – founder of the “Women’s Parliament”, Liron Ben-Yaacov – “Women’s Parliament” spokesperson and activist, and other women who are active for “Women’s Parliament” and “Young Women’s Parliament”.
Esther-Perron commended the presence of young men in the audience, in addition to the young women, opened the panel discussion, and explained that, “many cases of sexual harassment and rape are a result of pressure and accepting the social situation rather than consent. It is necessary to discuss the social impact and the social pressure, and take care of the schools and of the reasons that cause young men and women to be in such situation. Agreeing does not mean wanting”.
The girls related, in a very direct manner, the experience of being a young woman, fear and helplessness.
Maya Hanukaev, a young woman from Bat-Yam, who participated in the “Na’ara” project and in the play, “Everybody’s on me”: “In the process of creating the play, each of us shared her experiences in relation to sexual abuse to which she was exposed, it can happen to anyone and we do not really know how to handle it”.
Emily Rubin, a young woman from Bat-Yam, who participated in the “Na’ara” project and in the play, “Everybody’s on me”: “We are exposed and vulnerable, and there is nothing we can do. It’s bad enough being out at night and not knowing what will happen to me, and the Internet is another danger. You feel as if in a matter of seconds, you can find yourself all over the web, and all of us are afraid of it. In the play, it was important for us to present it on stage for all to see it; for everyone to see what we, as young women, undergo”.
Young women representatives from Jisr az-Zarqa, also shared their experiences of sexual abuse and the concerns and fears that they feel on a daily basis.
Gal Yosef, chairman of Israel’s National Student and Youth Council: “In the framework of the council, we identified the problem and realized that one of the most important factors in promoting the issue is the schools, and we are currently in the process of implementing sex education classes in the schools. Young people today receive all of the information regarding sexuality from the Internet, movies and TV series, which create a distorted perception of sexuality, including the objectification of women. In addition, most teenagers do not have someone to talk about it at home and they do not know where to get the information. Our goal is that professionals will come to the schools to talk with the young people”.
Romi from Kfar-Saba, a participant in the “Young Women Leading Change” group: “In the framework of the activity of the ‘Young Women Leading Change’ group, we promote messages that will lead us to gender equality, regarding issues that are important to us, young women”.
Anat Mordechai – journalist at “La’Isha” magazine: “My job as a journalist is to get to places like this meeting and hear stories. However, it is also the responsibility of each and every one of the young women and men to share. Many of the readers are not aware that today their daughters are being ‘outed’. Every day that a mother does not know those things that we saw in the play is very problematic, and it is a pity that young people do not speak up, before sex-related incidents, like the incident in Kiryat-Gat, ‘explode’. We hardly know what adolescent girls undergo. Even searching the web, there is very little information. As a media observing social phenomena, we have to change this. Young people have the responsibility to tell the adults. Only you know what you undergo, and if you do not enlighten us, we will never know”.
Ruth Valenti, an active member of the Bat-Yam PTA: “The whole issue relating to education and raising children is relevant to all those involved in their development: parents, family, friends, school and the media. We interface with the young men and women all the time, and give them the tools to cope whether or not openness exists. There must be an open communication. We are indeed young and progressive parents and an enlightened society, but if our children do not feel free enough to talk to us, then we did not do our job properly, and there is a gap between our job and the way our children perceive us. Therefore, we need to hold workshops for parents as well, and not just for the children. As children get older, they present us with new challenges, and we, as parents, need to know how to convey our messages”.
Esther-Perron concluded the discussion and explained that: “There is no doubt that as far as I am concerned, the most important word that needs to emerge from this debate is the word dignity. When treated with dignity, the behavior and communication between the sexes look different. Alongside this, we must conduct sex education classes for both boys and girls and from an early age”.
Prof. Esther Hertzog – founder of Women’s Parliament: “The growing numbers of sexual abuse incidents against young women within the educational institutions, and the exposure of many cases in which the behavior of young men reveals a lack of morality, and a degrading and objectifying attitude towards women, increase the need to act towards developing the awareness of young men regarding the dignified manner of treating young women and women”.
