Professor Dafna Tener is a Full Professor at the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research and teaching focus on child sexual abuse (CSA) within individual, family, community, religious, cultural, and institutional contexts. As a qualitative researcher, she specializes in exploring the subjective experiences of survivors, families, and professionals, aiming to uncover the "gray areas" in the field of CSA — including sibling sexual abuse (SSA), peer sexual abuse in residential care, sexual abuse within the LGBTQ+ community, and educators’ experiences of handling CSA disclosures.
Together with Professor Laura Sigad, she has conducted extensive research on how educators from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds in Israel — including Jewish ultra-Orthodox, religious, secular, Arab, Druze, and Christian communities — cope with students’ disclosures of sexual abuse. Their work highlights the complex tensions educators face, navigating their roles as protectors alongside cultural and social expectations, while also emphasizing their potential as key agents of social change.
In addition to her research, Professor Tener teaches qualitative methodologies at both undergraduate and graduate levels and is committed to mentoring the next generation of qualitative researchers and social workers. Professor Tener is co-host of the podcast "Down to Earth Qualitative Research", designed to make qualitative research accessible to students and early-career researchers.