"Pay Attention! Pay Attention! Pay Attention!!!": The Pivotal Role of Educators and the Educational System as Experienced by Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse.

Educational institutions and educators are significant in children's lives, and they have a crucial role in implementing policies, practices, and sexual education to enhance children's safety. Such policies and practices should be based on the voices of CSA survivors. This study explored child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors' viewpoints on their past experiences with educators and the educational system. A qualitative thematic approach was used to analyze 61 written testimonies collected in 2020-2021 by the Israeli Independent Public Inquiry on CSA. Two interrelated themes arose: (1) CSA survivors' retrospective perspectives of educators and the educational system's responses to signs of their CSA, described as ranging from abusive to life-saving. Specifically, they shared three types of responses: (a) harmful and hurtful; (b) dismissive and ignoring; and (c) accepting and attending. (2) The second theme described the survivors' messages to educators to promote constructive change. The survivors conveyed expectations that educators should play a central role in CSA prevention, detection, and intervention and, specifically, the need for educators to receive professional training, provide beneficial sexual education, and identify and respond to CSA. The findings promoted moving beyond individual-level interventions to focus on improving educational institutional and organizational cultures related to CSA in both national and international contexts.

"Today, I Say It's Mine!": Professional Identity Construction among Jewish and Arab School Counselors Coping with CSA Disclosure in Israel.

School counselors play a crucial role in preventing, disclosing, and intervening in child sexual abuse cases (CSA) and in maintaining safe and protected school environments. However, research on their experiences coping with CSA remains limited. The purpose of the present study was to describe and analyze the coping experiences of Israeli Jewish and Arab school counselors with CSA disclosure, particularly the consequences for their processes of professional identity construction (the ongoing process through which they develop and refine their sense of self in their profession). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 Israeli Jewish and Arab school counselors working in elementary schools (grades 1-6) with significant experience in coping with CSA. Two themes surfaced, reflecting the counselors' professional identity construction: (1) Counselors' professional identity transformation following encounters with CSA among their students; (2) Integrating professional knowledge, attitudes, and engagement behaviors into professional identity. The findings describe a trajectory of transformation and professional development among the counselors, beginning with defining and refining their professional roles and followed by the integration of professional knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors into their professional routines. Arab counselors also highlighted specific sociocultural challenges within this process, relating to the gap between cultural values and role expectations. Implications for future research, policy, and practice are discussed.

'A kindergarten teacher must have 100 eyes and 100 ears!': Kindergarten teachers' experiences coping with child sexual abuse and problematic sexual behavior.

BACKGROUND: Child sexual abuse (CSA) and problematic sexual behavior (PSB) are worldwide phenomena that occur across all ages. Kindergarten teachers' proactive involvement can be crucial to the prevention, disclosure and intervention of CSA and PSB. However, research on their experiences of contending with CSA and PSB remains limited. OBJECTIVE: This study examines kindergarten teachers' experiences in Israel with the CSA and PSB of their students. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 31 teachers: 11 secular Jewish, seven religious Jewish, nine Druze Arab, and four Muslim Arab. METHODS: A qualitative analysis was conducted using the interview transcripts as data. RESULTS: The analysis revealed three themes illustrating teachers' professional transformations regarding their knowledge of these phenomena: 1) initial shock, uncertainty and sense of responsibility when exposed to CSA and PSB due to missing knowledge, 2) implementation of prevention and intervention strategies regarding CSA and PSB, and 3) embracing a social role to disseminate CSA and PSB knowledge. The findings indicated that the majority of the teachers went from overwhelming shock and fear due to a lack of knowledge in coping with CSA and PSB to a sense of responsibility as a community leader. CONCLUSIONS: The fragmentation of the Israeli education system isolates kindergartens, and the lack of training and education for the teachers left them alone when contending with the CSA and PSB of their students. Nevertheless, the participants exhibited remarkable agency and resourcefulness, gaining the necessary knowledge and acting as knowledge agents within their communities.

"We Need to Raise Awareness and Never Give Up": Israeli Druze and Muslim Arab Kindergarten Teachers' Proactivity When Facing the Sexual Abuse of Their Students.

Kindergarten teachers are expected to lead the intervention process in cases of child sexual abuse (CSA) in their kindergarten. This study examines the proactive role of Druze and Muslim Arab kindergarten teachers in addressing and coping with the CSA of their kindergarten students in Israel. A qualitative thematic analysis was used to investigate the semi-structured interviews conducted with eight Druze Arab and six Muslim Arab kindergarten teachers. Three distinct themes were revealed. The first theme described the participants' fear and concern for their personal children and themselves when dealing with CSA incidents involving their students. The second and third themes described their proactive coping on two fronts: (1) inside their homes to protect their own children and (2) as educators within religious communities, using professional and religious principles to support CSA survivors and raise awareness among parents. The results emphasized the personal burden on kindergarten teachers coping with CSA in their kindergarten and, as mainly expressed by Druze kindergarten teachers, the contribution of religious values to CSA intervention and prevention processes among their students and communities. Thus, there is a need for comprehensive support that considers ethnic and religious characteristics and will be available to kindergarten teachers facing CSA in their kindergarten.