Monday, July 12, 2010

INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION: Brother of Incest Survivor Sent To Prison By Israeli Judge, Moshe Gilad

July 12, 2010

INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION: 
Brother of Incest Survivor Sent To Prison By Israeli Judge, Moshe Gilad


It appears that Israeli Judge,  Moshe Gilad is unfamiliar Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the ramifications childhood physical and sexual abuse can have on non-offending family members.  The Awareness Center along with other advocacy groups find it outrageous that a judge would send a young man who was attempting to protect his sister from any more sexual assaults to prison, instead of court ordered therapy with someone who specializes in PTSD.  

According to an article published by Ha'aretz (see below), upon arresting the teenage brother, the police also arrested the alleged sex offending step-father on suspension of a sex crime, yet released him two days later with the understanding he was not to go into the family home for two weeks.  The article also describes the young man as a victim of long term physical abuse by his sister's alleged sex offender.

Like in many other cases of incest, the mother doubted her daughters accusations.  The girl's mental health status declined, leading her to be hospitalized.

The article quoted Judge Gilad as saying: "I imagine that after he described himself and his sister being 'abused' physically and verbally for years, that when his sister described to him how the complainant had sexually assaulted her, the accused must have felt horrible," Judge Moshe Gilad wrote in his verdict. "I am ready to believe that when the accused saw his sister feeling so vulnerable, and heard her tell of such horrible things, he was frustrated and enraged."

But he added: "We cannot allow the court to send a message that someone who stabs another in anger, rage, revenge, no matter what the reason, will not be put under lock and key."

Though the young man stabbed his stepfather while sleeping, it is obvious to anyone who understands the dynamics of child abuse, that this was an delayed act of self defense and not one of "revenge and rage". 

Please demand that Judge Moshe Gilad reconsider his sentence of a young man who needs specialized care to help him overcome his childhood trauma, and also demand that his sister receive rape trauma counseling immediately and that her step-father be court ordered out of the home indefinitely.

Judge Moshe Gilad


Contact Information:
  Judge Moshe Gilad
  Haifa District Court
  12 Palyam Street
  Haifa, Israel  33095

E-mail: 
pniyot@court.gov.il

  Fax from the United States to Israel: 011-972-4-869-8644
  Fax in Israel:  04-8698644

Background information on Judge Moshe Gilad

  • Born in 192 in Romania
  • In 1961 he immigrated to Israel
  • In 1970-1976 he served in the IDF
  • In 1980 graduated LLB degree at University of Tel-Aviv.
  • In October 1981 he qualified as a Din (Judge).
  • In 1981-2008 he worked as an editor - an independent lawyer
  • In February 2008 he was appointed to serve as a judge in Haifa District Court
http://elyon1.court.gov.il/heb/cv/fe_html_out/judges/k_hayim/202732298.htm
http://elyon1.court.gov.il/heb/cv/fe_html_out/courts/details/205.htm

The Awareness Center believes survivors of sexual violence should be given yellow ribbons to wear proudly.

Survivors of sexual violence (as adults and/or as a child) are just as deserving of a yellow ribbon as the men and women of our armed forces, who have been held captive as hostages or prisoners of war.  Survivors of sexual violence have been forced to learn how to survive, being held captive not by foreigners, but mostly by their own family members, teachers, camp counselors, coaches babysitters, rabbis, cantors or other trusted authority figures.  For these reasons ALL survivors of sexual violence should be seen as heroes!


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Teen who stabbed 'rapist' stepfather jailed for 12 years

By Fadi EyadatHaaretz 

Haaretz - August 11,  2010


A Haifa District Court sentences an 18-year-old from northern Israel to 12 years in jail for stabbing his stepfather, who allegedly raped the man's younger sister.


 A Haifa District Court sentenced an 18-year-old from northern Israel to 12 years in jail yesterday for stabbing his stepfather, who allegedly raped the man's younger sister.

The court stated that the youth, who played an important role in his sister's life, was enraged after the girl told him of the rape. In delivering the verdict, the judge said: "Arguments must be settled by a court of law, not by the knife."

In January the teenager, who was still a high school student, was told by his younger sister that their stepfather had raped her two days previously and had sexually assaulted her several times in the past.

The teenager asked his sister to leave the house, armed himself with two kitchen knives, and stabbed his stepfather while he slept. The older man was taken to hospital but released soon afterwards.

Following the stepson's arrest, the stepfather was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, but was released under conditions that included a restraining order banning him from the home for two weeks.

During the trial it emerged that the children's mother doubted her daughter's story. The girl's mental health deteriorated following the attack and she was eventually institutionalized.

"I imagine that after he described himself and his sister being 'abused' physically and verbally for years, that when his sister described to him how the complainant had sexually assaulted her, the accused must have felt horrible," Judge Moshe Gilad wrote in his verdict. "I am ready to believe that when the accused saw his sister feeling so vulnerable, and heard her tell of such horrible things, he was frustrated and enraged."

But he added: "We cannot allow the court to send a message that someone who stabs another in anger, rage, revenge, no matter what the reason, will not be put under lock and key."


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