Last update - 00:00 24/03/2008
Welfare Min. data shows 10,000 children at risk of parental abuse
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
The Welfare Ministry on Monday reported that divorce disputes in which social workers had to protect children from parental abuse increased 18 percent in 2007, reaching 3,758.
Around 10,000 children were thought to be at high risk of suffering abuse at the hands of hostile parents.
Of those considered at risk, a minority had been hospitalized after suicide attempts, or suffering from anorexia and other psychological disorders. One in three matrimonies going through the process of divorce were found to be at a particularly high level of conflict.
According to Central Bureau of Statistics figures, some 11,000 couples divorced in 2007, and welfare services' legal advisers wrote some 10,000 reports to aid judges decide on custody and other matters relating to child abuse.
The Welfare Ministry report also showed that in 2007, 1,500 men petitioned for sole custody of their children, comprising 15 percent of all men who were divorced that year. In around 850 cases women also requested custody, while in 700 cases only the husband requested it.
In almost 2,900 cases, welfare legal advisers recommended granting maternal custody - a slight increase from the preceding year, while in 534 cases paternal custody was recommended - a 20 percent drop from 2006. in 167 cases, advisers recommended joint custody.
Chief welfare legal adviser Ronit Tzur said joint custody is recommended wherever possible, but that this requires good communication between parents. Tzur added that social workers had succeeded in reuniting 3,500 children with their parents, mostly with their fathers, in 2007.
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