Despite increased awareness, most Haredi parents still do not have the tools needed to protect their children from abuse or handle such cases when they arise, a study by the Yedidut Toronto Foundation released last week found.
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For decades, the issue of sexual abuse has been taboo in ultra-Orthodox circles. The tide appeared to change in 2021, as two prominent community figures took their own lives ahead of police investigations into their actions.
The attempted suicide of ZAKA founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav in April and the December suicide of popular author Chaim Walder exposed years of grave abuse against dozens of victims, who were all children or teens at the time. As young adults, some of them teamed with Haredi activists and courageously broke the code of silence enforced in the sector about such cases.
Still, despite an increase in awareness of the phenomenon of sexual abuse in the ultra-Orthodox community, nearly half of Haredi parents do not have the tools to educate their children on abuse prevention, and do not know who to turn to in case of abuse or suspected abuse, the study, conducted in March among 700 ultra-Orthodox parents from the Hassidic, Sephardic, and Ashkenazi communities, found.
The findings show that although two-thirds of parents estimate that there has been an increase in the Haredi public's awareness of the phenomenon of child abuse following recent cases, they still have a long way to go, particularly when it comes to practical tools and implementation.
Some 45% of parents do not have sufficient or suitable tools to guide their children on the subject of abuse and abuse prevention, and are unsure they would know what to do in case of abuse or suspected abuse.
About 57% said they do not feel confident in their ability to respond to and support their child in case of sexual abuse.
Moreover, while 37% of the parents participating in the study said they gave their children information on maintaining personal space, a third chose to ignore last year's scandals when doing so.
This phenomenon was particularly pronounced in the Hasidic community, where 44% of parents completely refrained from having a conversation with their children about the Walder and Meshi-Zahav scandals. While 46% of parents increased the number of conversations they had with their children since both cases came to light, 56% of parents reported that the affairs had no effect on how often they discussed the issue with their children.
The study revealed that only 54% of parents whose sons attend yeshivas and 57% of parents of boys in elementary schools or Talmudei Torah believe the institutions properly protect their children from abuse, compared to 64% of parents to girls in elementary school or high schools.
In addition, 40% of parents of boys said they trusted the schools to properly handle complaints relating to boundary violations and abuse compared to 48% of parents of girls.
Asked where they might turn for help in case of abuse against their child, 55% of Haredi parents said they believed psychologists were the best option, followed by the police (50%), rabbis (45%), social organizations (43%), community advocates (35%), social services (29%), schools (18%), legal aid (15%) and family members (10%), who are considered less relevant when assistance is needed.
"The study shows that along with a welcome and necessary increase in parental awareness about abuse and abuse-prevention, much more work is needed in the education system to address the phenomenon," said Natan Kandler, COO of the Yedidut Toronto Foundation.
"Schools are critical in the arena of abuse prevention, not only for teachers and students but also for the ability to provide reassurance/ safety to parents and equip them with tools on how to speak to and prepare their children.
"The way to achieve the goal is first and foremost through the implementation of abuse-prevention programs in the entire education system, and then in creating a mechanism for sharing and transferring knowledge between schools, municipalities, and parents regarding the safety situation, all to address real-time needs of children and parents in this field," he noted.
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