The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel (ARCCI) was founded in 1990 as an umbrella organization for the nine regional Rape Crisis Centers (RCCs). It is the only organization in Israel whose main aim is to combat sexual violence. The RCCs work at the individual and regional levels providing services and support for individual victims of sexual violence and working to raise awareness in their local communities.

ARCCI is recognized as a public institution for purposes of receiving tax credit in return for your donation, according to section 46 of the Income Tax Ordinance, we are an independent organization funded by donations alone.

  1.    ARCCI, and the nine rape crisis centers that comprise it, together are one of the strongest and most significant social change organizations in Israel and because of our activities over the years we have succeeded in creating a significant change in the Israeli public’s awareness and in the way the establishment addresses the phenomenon of sexual violence.

 

2.    ARCCI has established collaborations with all of the professional bodies that deal with the topic of sexual violence in the Israeli law enforcement system: The State’s Attorney, the Israel Police, the Department of Justice, and the Police Investigations Department. ARCCI has professional connections and partners with these different bodies, and runs professional trainings with the goal of broadening their knowledge of the characteristics of sexual assault in order to minimize its occurrence.

 

  3.    ARCCI has strongly grounded its position as the central organization in the field of sexual assault, and thus receives frequent inquiries from Members of Knesset, government officials, journalists and non-profit organizations about statistics of sexual assault, its characteristics, its implications and new phenomena in the field of sexual harassment (such as: sexual abuse on the net, date-rape drugs, etc.).

 

4.    ARCCI initiated dozens of bills and legislative amendments on behalf of the victims of sexual assault, many of which have become laws in Israel. Among the laws that we initiated or worked to develop in recent years: a.    The law limiting sexual offenders from returning to the environment of the assault (amendment – confidentiality expert opinion), MK Orly Levi-Abekasis b.    The law for the prevention of sexual harassment (amendment – transferring the burden of proof in the case of job termination with respect to filing a complaint of sexual harassment), MK Dr. Aliza Lavie c.    The law for the prevention of sexual harassment (amendment – utilizing the position of authority or dependence by someone in public office), MK Michal Rozin d.    The law for the prevention of sexual harassment (amendment – publicizing photographs of a sexual nature without the agreement of all sides), MK Yifat Kariv e.    The law for the rights of victims of criminal offenses (amendment – the right of the victim to specify the gender of their investigator), MK Yifat Kariv

 

5.    ARCCI has expertise in the field of combatting sexual harassment in the workplace. With support from the Ministry of the Economy and in collaboration with the Standards Institution of Israel, ARCCI developed a “Voluntary Code” for the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace. The Voluntary Code turns to the entire workforce, and offers tools and instructions for how to develop a work culture which opposes sexual harassment. The Voluntary Code offers a new dialogue in the Israeli economy and calls for leading companies and organizations to adopt the code. The Municipality of Ranaana is the first in the country working to adopt the code.

 

6.    ARCCI is working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Bizchut to develop a model for training medical professionals to identify and properly treat people with mental disabilities who have experienced sexual assault. Every year we hold special training programs to train a critical mass of mental health professionals and rehabilitation entities in the field.      7.    ARCCI is helping create procedures for handling sexual harassment in the National Service program.

 

8.    ARCCI initiated a project, the first of its kind, creating a safe space in the Scouts youth movement and is working to further develop the model and incorporate it into other youth movements in Israeli society.

 

9.    ARCCI, in collaboration with the Israel Democracy Institute and the “Women Journalist Cell”, articulated an ethical code for press coverage of sexual assault in the media that will not harm victims, and we are working to implement it in the various communication media. The Israeli Broadcasting Authority and the news site NRG have taken up the challenge and implemented the code on their sites.

 

10. ARCCI, in collaboration with the Israel Women’s Network, articulated an ethical code for the prevention of sexual assault in the world of cinema. The Minister of Culture and Sport announced that they will review and compel all organizations that wish to receive support to follow this code, if the relevant labor unions will not adopt the code voluntarily.