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Child Abuse Allegations Plague The Hasidic Community
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Newsweek
Posted: March 14th, 2016
http://www.newsweek.com/2016/03/11/child-abuse-allegations-h...
There is no evidence that child abuse is any more likely to occur in ultra-Orthodox schools than in public or secular institutions. [But] stories like [Joseph] Reizess - an alleged abuser sheltered and victims unwilling to talk for fear of losing the only way of life they know - are common in the Hasidic school system. The many former students, advocates, sociologists, social workers and survivors interviewed by Newsweek, along with recordings, documents, public filings and personal emails that Newsweek obtained, place the blame on a confluence of factors: widespread sexual repression, a strong resistance to the secular world, and, most important, a power structure designed to keep people from speaking up about abuse. When youre a child in this environment, you dont question the fact that you cant identify your own state on a map. And when you are molested, you dont ask questions about that either. In the ultra-Orthodox world, sexuality is simultaneously denied and monitored to the point of obsession. Starting in childhood, boys and girls are separated; the opposite gender remains a mystery until its time to marry, usually in an arranged pairing. Boys are taught to avoid looking at girls, while girls are taught that they are a source of sex and transgression, say former members of the Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox Jewish, community. If children arent taught by their parents and teachers about appropriate sexual behavior, they have no way to sense when touching turns into something that is wrong.
Note: An investigation into similar patterns of abuse and cover-up led Australia's top Rabbi to resign in 2015. Watch an excellent segment by Australia's "60-Minutes" team titled "Spies, Lords and Predators" on a pedophile ring in the UK which leads directly to the highest levels of government. A second suppressed documentary, "Conspiracy of Silence," goes even deeper into this sad subject in the US. For more along these lines, see concise summaries of deeply revealing sexual abuse scandal news articles from reliable major media sources.
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