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Last update - 01:45 31/10/2008
Government opposes law to fund therapy for child sex victims
By Ruth Sinai, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Israel News, sexual assault

The ministries of finance and of social affairs have announced their opposition to a bill that would legislate state-funded psychological treatment for child victims of sexual assault. Officials in both ministries would prefer to address the issue without passing a new law.

The opposition comes despite the bill's approval in preliminary reading and the fact that Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog publicly supported it, with staff from his ministry making changes to it to conform with ministry programs.

The bill, sponsored by MKs Nadia Hilou (Labor) and Limor Livnat (Likud), would provide for state-funded psychological treatment for child victims of sexual assault. The child would have to ask for help from a social worker, who would make the recommendation for treatment. The child's family would receive funding for such treatments for up to a year, with the option of extending it for another six months.
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After a nine-month delay at the request of the Social Affairs Ministry, the Committee on the Rights of the Child convened to prepare the bill for its first Knesset reading. To the shock of those present, ministry representatives announced at the start of the meeting that they opposed the legislation.

After a stormy session, the committee approved the bill for its first reading  Hilou, the committee chairwoman, was the only participant left in the room. Hilou says she will bring the bill before the Knesset plenum next week.

Social workers and the National Council for the Child have for years been pushing for the provision of psychological assistance for children who have been sexually assaulted. A pilot program did begin this year, funded by the treasury Ministry (NIS 5 million), the National Insurance Institute (approximately NIS 4 million) and the Sacta-Rashi Foundation (about NIS 1 million). About 260 children were treated at special centers or by private therapists.

The treasury's share of the program's budget was included in the regular annual budget of the Social Affairs Ministry, and the treasury said it is therefore committed to it for the coming years. Finance Ministry officials also said, however, that it would be premature to pass the law until the pilot program is complete, and they noted that the provision for the bill exceeds the NIS 5 million limit for a private member's bill.

Social Affairs Ministry Director General Nahum Itzkovitz says that there is no reason to promote a bill whose funding is limited to NIS 5 million when an arrangement is being implemented with a budget of NIS 10 million.

"It means cutting in half the scope of the activity, which is inconceivable," Itzkovitz said. "The Social Affairs Ministry signs off on quite extensive arrangements for projects that are important, even without legislation," he said.

The director of the National Council for the Child, Dr. Yitzhak Kadman, said that accessibility to treatment must be guaranteed by law. "Today Itzkovitz has an arrangement with the Finance Ministry. What will happen when Itzkovitz is no longer there? These arrangements aren't worth the paper they're written on," he said. Kadman also rejected the treasury's claim that implementation of the legislation will cost over NIS 5 million. He said that at most, 1,000 children a year would seek treatment, at a cost of NIS 4 million.


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