How should anonymous sexual assault complaints be treated in the Israel Defense Forces? According to Intelligence Services Minister Elazar Stern, they should be shredded. In an interview on Sunday, Stern said that as head of the IDF Military Directorate, he used to see to it that anonymous complaints were shredded immediately. "The paper shredder worked really fast," he put it.
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Unfortunately, the former IDF directorate chief is not the only one to have such an opinion. In 2016, then-head of the Israel Police Roni Alsheikh said with regard to sexual harassment complaints that "filing an anonymous complaint has become a way to settle scores… Therefore, from now on, the police will no longer investigate anonymous letters that raise suspicions of offenses committed by the police."
It is natural to question claims put forth in anonymous complaints. Especially, since they are sometimes filed ahead of the appointment of an officer to a senior position in a clear attempt to sabotage the process. And yet, the incredible ease with which some senior officials are willing to dismiss the anonymous complaints is outrageous and fundamentally wrong.
Anyone who thinks that the main motive behind filing an anonymous complaint is to "settle scores" completely dismisses an entire group of sexual abuse victims and legitimate claims of abuse of power.
Such a culture of silence and dismissal is crippling. No wonder the percentage of victims who choose to come forth by filing a formal complaint is minimal. As such, oftentimes complaining anonymously is the only way for the victim to stop being abused and prevent others from suffering the same fate.
Nowhere does it state that a complaint filed anonymously should immediately make its way to the shredder. On the contrary, as per the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law, not only is an employer legally obligated to investigate an anonymous sexual harrassment complaint, he or she is also obligated to take steps to prevent sexual harassment even if no complaint was filed at all.
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Finally, there are ways to investigate an anonymous complaint to reveal whether it was filed in order to "settle scores." Facts can be authenticated by checking other materials that could support or refute the complaint, by questioning witnesses, reviewing security camera footage, and more. It is a long way from here to the shredder.
Adv. Efrat Nachmani-Barr was the Deputy Chief Military Advocate and the IDF representative in the Knesset during the enactment of the Law for the Prevention of Sexual Harassment.
Adv. Sharon Zaggi-Pinchas is a former IDF chief military prosecutor who led the reform in the military with regard to rights of sexual assault victims.
