[Lightly edited for privacy, accuracy, and punctuation.]

Jerusalem Post, Up Front, 18 May 2007: “Letters”

Sir, -There was a significant omission in Larry Derfner’s “Lost Generation” (Cover story, May 11). Nowhere did he mention the high number of adolescents who turn to drugs, alcohol and the streets as a result of sexual abuse (see Paul Slier’s In Jerusalem interview with me on October 30, 2005).

Most sources agree that 100% of female addicts are victims of abuse. For men, the conservative estimate is 70%, although one Tel Aviv agency informed me that 100% of the 1000 or so addicts they worked with, male and female, were victims. There is a reluctance to face this fact even among the fine people who work with these youths.

One 21-year-old I spoke with told me that he had been on the streets since he was 14, but at no time did he tell anyone he was a victim of abuse; nor was he ever asked. Yet in many cases facing the past is the key to the future.

Worth noting is the important work being done by Crossroads and its director, Caryn Green. Crossroads is specifically geared to the Anglo population, and it would be useful for your readership to be aware of its activities.

[Crossroads is located at Rehov Hahavatzelet 2, Jerusalem 91028, tel. 02-624-6265; e-mail: crossroads@bezeqint.net]

SHALOM ATLAS
Religious Men’s Hotline
Jerusalem