Israeli Diplomats and Ronit Raphael Put on the UN Table the Issue that no one Wants to Talk About
35 countries participated last weekend in a UN event in Geneva, initiated by The Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Aviva Raz Shechter, and businesswoman Ronit Raphael – addressing the painful topic of Child Sexual Abuse.
The event attracted diplomats and representatives of international organizations, that were exposed to new practical tools for increasing awareness and improving prevention of abuse.
This discussion was the opening side-event of the 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child - that Israel joined from its establishment. The Missions of Uruguay and the EU joined Israel in organizing the event.
According to the World Health Organization, 260 million children worldwide were sexually abused in the past year – 12% of all the children in the world.
Ronit Raphael, the Founder of L.RAPHAEL GENEVE, established a global movement called The Global Army against Child Abuse, with an aim to fight child sexual abuse worldwide.
The Israeli mission to the UN, led by Ambassador Raz Shechter, invited experts on child abuse prevention that shared their knowledge - and Member State representatives that can influence their Governments to implement new policies.
Raphael invited her U.S partners in the “Global Army”: Prof. Elizabeth Letourneau from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Director of the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse. Prof. Letourneau is the developer of the RBYC Program (Responsible Behavior with Younger Children) - a School curricula for 6th and 7th grade students (ages 11-13), designed to provide young adolescent students, their educators, and their parents with relevant skills to avoid problem sexual behavior.
And: the Founders of the Child Lures Prevention organization from Vermont, Rosemary Webb and Jennifer Mitchell, Personal Safety Experts, and the developers of the Think First & Stay Safe™ school program - America's leading personal safety training and school-based curricula.
Ambassador Raz Shechter, that opened the discussion, emphasized the importance of taking active steps of child abuse prevention; rather than only showing commitment. The Ambassador urged to invest resources in educational programs from the first grades till the end of high school. She predicts that such programs - for both children and educators - will not only increase awareness to child abuse, but also decrease its prevalence.
Ambassador Raz Shechter presented a few models that were adopted by the Education System in Israel, based on cooperation between the Government, NGO’s and the Police.
Raphael, that was honored to give the ending speech of the event, called Member States to see the issue as real war: "more urgent than any other war".
Raphael listed the main recommendations of her Movement:
1. To appoint a Minister in each country responsible for the protection of children
2. To implement compulsory educational programs on prevention and protection - from 1st grade to 12th grade
3. To develop complimentary programs for parents, teachers and social workers
4. To legislate rules with harder punishments for convicted rapists and abusers, especially family members of the victim
What caught the attention in the event, was when 13-year old Serra Raphael Leitersdorf, daughter of Ronit Raphael, described with courage the importance she sees in the war against child abuse. Serra touched the diplomats when she revealed how much she was afraid to hear or speak about this difficult topic, but after studying the facts - she realized how important it is to stand up against it.
Serra also updated the audience with news from last month in Indiana, U.S: Elementary school girl was taught a prevention program - and disclosed the abuse she allegedly experienced at the hands of her mother’s boyfriend. The girl was allegedly abused more than 10 times in summer of 2018.
Walter Stevens, Permanent Observer of the European Union, congratulated the Missions of Israel and Uruguay for the event; expressed his appreciation to the discussion on this important topic; and agreed that this phenomenon should be treated as real war.
Raphael thanked Ambassador Raz Shechter for leading the event and said: "that was another important step in our war for the next generation. Since I was exposed to the horrible statistics on child abuse, I dedicate one day every week to this critical topic. We will continue to develop new practical tools for education and prevention - and pressure Government to act”.
