Captive ‘raped by Israeli trainer’: I felt safer while I was held by Hamas
A 22-year-old Israeli woman, who used to be held captive by Hamas, has accused a prominent Tel Aviv fitness trainer of drugging and raping her in her own home, while saying she used to feel safer in the Palestinian resistance movement’s captivity than after release when she faced the sexual abuse.
Mia Schem, who had spent 54 days of captivity in the Gaza Strip, disclosed the alleged assault during a recent televised interview with the Israeli regime’s Channel 12.
She said she used to fear facing sexual violation either during the captivity or before that.
“This was my biggest fear my whole life, before captivity, during captivity,” Schem said.
“And it happened to me after captivity, in my safest place,” she added.
‘Trusted connection turned traumatic’
She recounted meeting the trainer earlier this year after release by Hamas.
After three training sessions, he proposed introducing her to an alleged Hollywood producer interested in adapting the story of her captivity into a film, Schem said.
When the initial meeting at a hotel lobby fell through, a second meeting was arranged at Schem’s residence, she said, adding that the trainer arrived two hours late and persuaded Schem’s friend to leave, citing the “sensitivity” of the discussion.
Following the trainer’s arrival, Schem experienced a loss of consciousness and had limited recollection of the events that transpired.
“My body remembers; it feels everything,” she stated, adding that it took her three days to connect her physical sensations to her consciousness.
She later underwent a medical examination, which indicated signs of sexual activity, and filed a police report.
The trainer, whose identity remains under a gag order, denies the allegations. He was briefly detained in March, but was released due to insufficient evidence. The investigation remains ongoing.
A mother’s observations
Keren Schem, Mia’s mother, observed a significant decline in her daughter’s mental state following the alleged assault.
“My daughter came back from captivity in a very difficult physical and mental condition,” she said. “And even then, she wasn’t like this. Now, I was seeing a kind of distress that really scared me.”
Public disclosure and advocacy
In an Instagram story following her interview, Schem expressed the difficulty of sharing her experience publicly. “It’s not easy to stand in front of a camera and reveal the truth. But there comes a time when you realize your silence doesn’t protect you; it protects others,” she wrote.
