The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel and the ten Rape Crisis Centers in the country are the only organizations in Israel dedicated solely to combating sexual violence.

The Rape Crisis Centers

Ten rape crisis centers operate in Israel at present. The centers are organized in nine regional bases, which are located in Kiryat Shmona, Haifa, Ra’anana, Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem, Be’er Sheva and Eilat, as well as two additional centers that assist specific sectors: the Nazareth Center for Arab women, and a Center for Religious Women in Jerusalem. The Tel-Aviv center also operates hotlines for Men and boys and for religious men and boys. The centers work at both the individual and the regional levels – providing essential, crisis-oriented assistance to victims of sexual assault and those close to them. This is done by having over 800 trained volunteers and over 60 professionals to help. Collaborating under the auspices of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI), the Centers structure a national network of sexual assault crisis services available to every woman throughout Israel.

Services provided by the Rape Crisis Centers include:

National 24-Hour Crisis Line – the national hotline provides initial advice, intervention and support to sexual assault victims and those who are close to them, 24-hours-a-day, free of charge and with no requirement of identification (callers dial 1202 from all areas in Israel). Assistance is available in various languages, including Hebrew, English, Russian, Arabic and Amharic. Separate hotlines also exist for men and orthodox men, orthodox women and Arab women.

Ongoing Assistance according to the specific needs of the victim, by means of individual meetings and support groups.

Support and Accompaniment during medical procedures - the volunteers at the centers accompany the victims and provide emotional support throughout the required medical procedures.

Accompaniment during Criminal and Legal Procedures - filing a complaint at the police station and later court hearings and deliberations.

Subsidized Professional treatment and Therapy through our Crisis Intervention Fund.

Preventive Education and Outreach - conducting workshops at junior high schools and high schools throughout Israel.

Informative services for the wider public - reaching out to students, new immigrants at immigration centers, women in community centers and others.

Prevention of Sexual Harassment in the workplace - conducting workshops at work places in the public and private sectors.

Professional Training Courses– teachers and social workers, policemen and investigators, attorneys and judges, gynecologists and pediatricians.

The Assistance Approach

Sexual assault often leads to extreme and unique crisis situations, which are caused by the nature of this crime and the meaning of the assault to the victim and her surroundings. To this end the Rape Crisis Centers offer intervention and assistance to sexual assault victims, throughout the immediate crisis and following it. The assistance provided is flexible and is adapted to the victim’s specific needs as she defines them, in a “woman to woman” approach, with full acceptance and without judgment. The goal is to relieve the victim of the burden of self-judgment and guilt - conscious or unconscious - that society often inflicts on her. The leading principle of our assistance is empowering the victim by providing freedom of choice, and returning her control over her life, control which was taken forcibly away during the assault.

Rape Crises activities during 2007

 During 2007, the rape crisis lines have received 40,518 calls from all over the country, out of which 8, 729 were new reports.

The rape crises centers have conducted dozens of support groups in order to assist sexual assault victims. Among those groups, attention was devoted to unique victims, i.e women who were assaulted and now face eating disorders, or sexual assault victims who are mentally challenged.

The rape crises centers have conducted through 2007, thousands of lectures, workshops and conventions to which tousands of people have attended.

The Association

The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel is the umbrella organization of the nine Rape Crisis Centers currently operating throughout Israel. The Association and the Rape Crisis Centers are the only organizations in Israel dedicated solely to combating sexual assault. Besides coordinating operations between the Centers, the Association initiates, promotes and supports new projects to improve equality between the sexes in Israel and to reduce physical and sexual violence. The association activities include legislative initiative, usage of media in order to rise awareness, publishing an annual report, conducting workshops, representation in parliament committees, membership and cooperation with national and world wide women organizations.

The Association and the Rape Crisis Centers in Israel are all non-profit organizations, committed to providing equal services to the entire population of sexual assault victims in Israel.