Two more complaints filed against modeling agent Shai Avital
Two more women filed complaints with Israel Police on Wednesday claiming modeling agent Shai Avital sexually assaulted them, taking the total number of complaints up to five.
One of the two women who filed a complaint on Wednesday,
Lynn Peer, chose to be interviewed openly and testified on the Israeli
investigative journalism show "Exposure" that her complaint relates
to several cases of rape around six and a half years ago.
The second alleged victim told of a sexual assault that took
place about 4 years ago.
In a heartfelt video shared to Instagram, Israeli model Gal
Gvaram recounted her experience of police mistreatment and indifference during
the filing of a sexual harassment complaint against modeling agent Shai Avital
on Tuesday night at the Tel Aviv-Jaffa police district headquarters.
"Everyone said that if you can testify then go and
testify."
"Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev, you called us
all to testify, and that is not an easy thing to do. Israel Police officers,
where are you? You were supposed to protect us."
According to her video, the model and Big Brother contestant
arrived at Tel Aviv-Jaffa district headquarters on Tuesday night in order to
file a sexual harassment complaint against Avital, the latest in a string of
allegations brought forward against the veteran modeling agent over the
previous week.
In her video, Gvaram said that when she informed the officer
that she wished to file the complaint regarding an incident that happened two
years ago, she was asked "the question of all questions," of why she
had waited so long.
"I answered him: because I was scared then and I am not
scared anymore. And he went silent," Gvaram recounted.
Following this, she was informed that it would take two to
three hours before a police officer could see her to take her complaint, and
that she would be better off filing a report from her computer.
"I am sorry that I did not [come forward] sooner. But
you, the police, where are you? Where is your district commander? I arrived to
file a complaint and you sent me home, to send a photo from my computer. Where
is the approach towards someone who has experienced something? Israeli police,
you should be ashamed of yourselves," she recounted through tears.
Following the incident, both Israel Police and Public
Security Minister Omer Bar Lev apologized to Gvaram.
"We regret the difficult feeling caused by the manner
in which the entrance to the police station was handled, and we will continue
to conduct the investigation with the required sensitivity, with a specialized
group of investigators that have been authorized and trained for this,"
Tel Aviv District Commander, Superintendent Amichai Eshed said in a statement.
"The incident that took place last night when Gal
Gvaram's complaint was denied was bad, and did not need to happen... I
apologize to you Gal, and together with the police I will find the weaknesses
and fix them," said Bar Lev, reiterating the need for an advisor on
violence against women, a position which he has promised to fill.
Labor MK Emilie Moatti also commented on the incident,
saying that "the law enforcement system must treat sex offenders harshly
and we as a society must condemn them in the sharpest possible way."
"The barriers a woman has to break in order to dare to
complain are many and often impossible," she continued, emphasising the
need for reforms in the way that sexual assault cases are treated. "While
this has already happened, the system must be mobilized so that the process can
be carried out in the most protective and complete manner."
"I am sending strength to Gal Gvaram and the other
brave women who broke the barrier of silence. And I embrace with deep sympathy,
those who are afraid to complain."
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