'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.

"Secrets From the Children's Room": New Understandings of Inappropriate and Abusive Sexual Behavior Among Siblings after the COVID-19 Crisis in Israel.

This article discusses the COVID-19 crisis's impact on inappropriate and abusive sexual behavior among siblings (IASBAS) and how perceptions of this phenomenon affect construction of the post-crisis reality in Israel. Sibling sexual abuse, the most frequent type of sexual assault against children, does not occur in a vacuum; it is affected by the environment in which children live and develop. The pandemic created situational risk factors and a "germination substrate" for risk of abuse in "normative" families and escalation in families in which it had previously occurred. The first part of the article, based on research data and reports, reviews the objective reality that emerged in Israel and worldwide due to the pandemic. Part two describes situational risk factors converging to a new dangerous situation for children's abuse and victimization that resulted from this crisis: domestic violence (direct, indirect, and sexual), at-risk children returning and staying at home, increased exposure to online sexual content, parental dysfunction, and lack of formal and informal support sources. These risk factors are mutually reinforcing, thus exacerbating the risk of sexual assault among siblings. Part three describes the etiology characterizing the complex phenomenon of IASBAS. Part four discusses the significance of the risk factors at various stages and conditions for its development, identification, prevention or preventing escalation, and providing professional support, all of which affect the post-crisis reality. Part five offers recommendations for prevention, detection, and intervention that help deal with the reality "the day after."