Unique Prevention and Therapeutic Programs
In addition to its clinical work, ELI commits vast resources, human and financial, toward prevention, education, and basic training for educational and therapeutic professionals, among others. ELI facilitates child abuse awareness and prevention programs across Israel’s entire social and cultural spectrum, and tailors programs to address specific group needs, such as children with special needs or children in residential facilities.
Eli on Stage
With the support and the blessing of the Education Ministry, ELI has been administering this program in schools and educational institutions nationwide for over 20 years. ELI has developed a repertoire of age- and content-appropriate plays and musicals (edutainments) dealing with sensitive issues, such as: body boundaries, internet safety, and sex education for girls, and cyberbullying. These programs are performed regularly on stages across the nation in schools, kindergartens, and communal centers.
In a given year, 60,000 children participate in ELI’s school-based awareness and prevention programs; and ELI facilitates 300 activities in 100 schools. Approximately 1.5% of children who participate in these programs are identified as being abused and are referred for help.
Cyberbullying Prevention and Internet Safety
ELI’s Cyberbullying Prevention and Internet Safety program was developed in response to the alarming rise of cyberbullying incidents in recent years, and is one of the specialized edutainment programs in our repertoire. Research has shown that 15%-20% of children have been victims of cyberbullying or other forms of online abuse. Most commonly, such violations occur on social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat), on online chat rooms and among members of gaming communities. Dissemination of sensitive material for the purpose of blackmail or revenge, or as a tool of social isolation, is typical of online bullying and abuse. The anonymity of the internet often allows perpetrators to evade the consequences of their actions, which may in some cases lead to suicide. At the end of each play about the issue, ELI facilitates small group discussions with the children to address their concerns and answer their questions.
In a given year, 60,000 children participate in ELI’s school-based awareness and prevention programs; and ELI facilitates 300 activities in 100 schools. Approximately 1.5% of children who participate in these programs are identified as being abused and are referred for help.
Empowering girls through sex education
ELI is concerned about the objectifying representation of women in mass media and on social media platforms. Young women are constantly subjected to distorted expectations of femininity and unrealistic ideals of the female body, and exposed to grossly misleading role models that give the impression that sexuality is transactional by nature. The signals sent to young, and especially to vulnerable girls, is that sex and sexuality are key factors in determining their self worth. ELI’s unique three-month program consists of presentations by experts on media and sex education, role playing, and discussion groups in addition to the edutainment. The goal is to allow young girls to share their personal experiences and concerns, and to cover a range of issues and themes that concern young women in today’s society, from sexuality and relationship dynamics to the importance of having a positive body image. We teach the girls what the indicators are of an abusive or oppressive relationship, and how to get help if they are in such a relationship. School psychologists, teachers, and counselors are also involved, so as to enable them to follow up appropriately.
Eli on the Road
ELI’s Mobile Therapy Unit is a retrofitted van that incorporates a therapy space, which enables ELI to reach children in remote areas. Furthermore, when time is of the essence for a successful intervention, the Mobile Therapy Unit facilitates rapid response to calls for help.
Safe Parenting Schools
The program is designed to assist parents, some with abusive backgrounds, to improve their parenting skills, allow them to openly share experiences, and raise dilemmas and conflicts in a supportive environment. Safe Parenting Schools can help average parents deal with stress and hardship, providing them with tools to become even better parents. Special emphasis is placed on supporting young or single mothers, including guidance on basic budgeting techniques and help with employment training. At the same time, safe parenting schools provide ELI with an opportunity to identify and work intensively with neglectful and abusive parents. Children are concurrently given an opportunity to discuss difficult family issues as well.
Furthermore, the Safe Parenting Schools help families deal with their isolation and loneliness through the natural support social network that is created through the program. ELI helps connect families to social services as well, which they are otherwise hesitant or don’t know how to use.
Many resources are invested in order to mend the devastating results of parental neglect or ignorance. ELI believes that it is much more moral, logical and less expensive to invest in prevention instead, thus paving the way for functioning stable families. ELI can prevent big mistakes from occurring for a small investment of resources.
Children With Special Needs
When it comes to child abuse, probably the most vulnerable are children with special needs. Statistics show that children with special needs are approximately ten times more likely to suffer some form of abuse than normative children. These victims are often less capable of clearly communicating their distress or of perceiving the abuse as such, which naturally makes it harder to identify and break the abusive patterns. Often, they are not believed when they do try to speak out. The program’s success is due to placing ELI’s therapists in the schools where they can work alongside the educational staff and oversee the process. Together, they can set and implement goals on behalf of the children. In addition, the therapists serve as an onsite resource and can help identify other cases of abuse. As a result of the therapists working in the school, a team consisting of parents, therapists and educational staff envelops the child therapeutically. Furthermore, as families of children with special needs are often overloaded, they, too, benefit from therapeutic intervention while the children are already in school.
The ELI/ IDF Partnership
For several years, ELI has collaborated with the Israeli Defense Forces in raising awareness of the issue of sexual abuse in the Army and in providing therapeutic intervention to soldiers who have been victims of sexual violence or sexual misconduct, during their service or previously in their childhood which often continues when they return home. ELI provides supervision to army therapists and mental health officers who work with sexual abuse victims, in addition to giving therapy in the more complex situations. Currently, ELI is the only civilian organization permitted to treat soldiers.
Through officer training and other means, ELI influences army policy concerning abuse among its ranks, and helps improve the corrective mechanisms in place to deal with such instances once they occur.
Increased awareness leads to an increase in reports, changes the culture of the IDF to one where it is okay to speak about the issue, sends a message that soldiers have the right to be safe and free of abuse, and that perpetrators will be punished.