Judge Yitzhak Amit Last month, Israeli Supreme Court Judge Yitzhak Amit, addressed a victim/survivor of incestuous child sexual assault:
Before Concluding, and in light of the nature of the arguments brought forward by the appellant, I find it apposite to address the plaintiff directly.
As judges, we unfortunately have to hear many cases which can be categorised as “sexual abuse within the family”. You have shown daring and courage on the witness stand in face of a difficult and unpleasant cross-examination. You were able to do so because the people around you allowed it, knowing how strong and wise you are and able to withstand it (by law anyone under the age of 14 may be exempted from testifying in court). From our experience we can say to you clearly and without a doubt: you are the aggrieved and the appellant is the aggressor. There isn’t a single reason why you should take upon yourself even a gram, even the slightest speck of guilt or shame. You are “guilty’ in the same way in which someone would be guilty for being robbed by a thief or having their wallet taken by a pickpocket. There is no reason why you would burden yourself with guilt, shame, embarrassment or any sense of having “complicated” things for your family. The entire burden should be placed on the shoulders of the appellant, who abused you and manipulatively took advantage of, according to his own words, the age gap between you, along with the trust that you and your family placed in him. You are lucky to have such a supportive family, parents and siblings, all of whom want the best for you. We are hopeful that you will take this verdict to be the end of the story which you found yourself in just by virtue of being there, and as someone who has already shown such strength of character, we wish and believe that you will be able to look forward and move on.
Thank you to Akiva Novick for highlighting it, and to Sol Salbe and Yoni Molad for translating the text from Hebrew to English.
Before Concluding, and in light of the nature of the arguments brought forward by the appellant, I find it apposite to address the plaintiff directly.
As judges, we unfortunately have to hear many cases which can be categorised as “sexual abuse within the family”. You have shown daring and courage on the witness stand in face of a difficult and unpleasant cross-examination. You were able to do so because the people around you allowed it, knowing how strong and wise you are and able to withstand it (by law anyone under the age of 14 may be exempted from testifying in court). From our experience we can say to you clearly and without a doubt: you are the aggrieved and the appellant is the aggressor. There isn’t a single reason why you should take upon yourself even a gram, even the slightest speck of guilt or shame. You are “guilty’ in the same way in which someone would be guilty for being robbed by a thief or having their wallet taken by a pickpocket. There is no reason why you would burden yourself with guilt, shame, embarrassment or any sense of having “complicated” things for your family. The entire burden should be placed on the shoulders of the appellant, who abused you and manipulatively took advantage of, according to his own words, the age gap between you, along with the trust that you and your family placed in him. You are lucky to have such a supportive family, parents and siblings, all of whom want the best for you. We are hopeful that you will take this verdict to be the end of the story which you found yourself in just by virtue of being there, and as someone who has already shown such strength of character, we wish and believe that you will be able to look forward and move on.
Thank you to Akiva Novick for highlighting it, and to Sol Salbe and Yoni Molad for translating the text from Hebrew to English.
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