Child Sexual Abuse Investigations in Israel

This article describes how allegations of child sexual abuse are investigated and adjudicated in Israel. Believing that children may well be harmed by repeated interrogation and demands to testify and be cross-examined, Israeli legislators enacted special provisions several decades ago to ensure that children were spared these traumas. Recent evaluations of the system they established suggest that the protections concerned may have led inadvertently to various practices, including the failure to prosecute, that have not served children well. Possible remedies and a research program related to these issues are described.