Reports of sexual assault involving incapacitating substances surged in 2024, reaching their highest level in ten years, according to the annual review released by the Association of Centers for Assistance to Survivors of Sexual Assault.
The organization documented 317 cases last year in which survivors reported being assaulted while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or so-called date-rape substances. This marks a dramatic rise from 119 such reports in 2023 and 243 in 2022.
In total, the assistance centers handled more than 51,000 inquiries in 2024. These included 12,757 first-time calls to the centers’ hotlines and roughly 4,000 additional contacts through the association’s anonymous youth chat service. Women accounted for 86% of all reports related to sexual assault, while men made up the remaining 14%.
The data show that 68% of the cases involved assaults that occurred by age 21. Within this group, 71% of incidents from childhood took place inside the family. The report highlights several concerning trends, including a 30% rise in reports of sexual harm among adolescents in school settings and a 50% increase in reports of workplace-related sexual harm.
Information obtained from the State Prosecutor’s Office - following a freedom-of-information request - revealed that 81% of sex-offense cases were closed without an indictment, a rate similar to the previous year. However, the Welfare Ministry and Education Ministry submitted their data only yesterday, well beyond the deadline, and several other bodies - the police, the Police Investigations Department, the Prison Service, and the IDF - have yet to provide the required information.
The association’s CEO, Orit Sulitzeanu, condemned the authorities’ conduct. “After years of collecting data from government bodies to offer a full and accurate picture of how the system handles sexual violence, we were shocked to discover that this year law-enforcement agencies and government ministries simply chose not to share the information,” she said. “This reflects contempt and an abdication of the state’s responsibility to its citizens.”
Sulitzeanu added that these systemic failures are visible on the ground: “We continue to see mishandling of survivors, a shortage of trained investigators, online complaints dismissed immediately, negligent investigations, and more. These shortcomings lead to case closures and allow perpetrators to evade accountability. In this reality, the work of our centers is vital - not only to protect survivors, but to safeguard the moral character of Israeli society.”
Adv. Lili Horowitz, director of the Takana Forum, also responded to the report’s findings. “These numbers should alarm every parent and educator in Israel,” she said. “Schools - meant to be safe, protected spaces - must not become locations where lifelong harm occurs. This is more than a wake-up call; it is an urgent warning to the education system and government ministries. They must stop treating this issue as peripheral and adopt structured lesson plans, open communication, and professional training for all staff. Only education grounded in respect, boundaries, responsibility, and early recognition of warning signs can prevent further harm. Israeli society must end the culture of silence and ensure survivors are not left to cope alone.”