Who Gave You Permission? Manny Waks" Story of Being Abused and Then Ostracised

By Manny Waks With Michael Visontay
Sydney Morning Herald
November 17, 2016

http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/who-gave-you-permission-manny-waks-story-of-being-abused-and-then-ostracised-20161111-gsnd9v.html

Who gave you Permission? By Manny Waks with Michael Visontay. Photo: Supplied

When Manny Waks told the leaders of his ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Melbourne about his experience of child sexual abuse by some of its members, he was shunned and ostracised. When his father stood up for him, Waks' family were cast out of the only world they had ever known. As a result, his parents now live in Israel and Waks and his family have fled to France. It is an extreme case of a story that has become familiar from the testimonies of those at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse where the initial abuse is compounded by the failure of those in authority to acknowledge the problem. In this absorbing memoir, Waks tells how he became a "reluctant troublemaker", speaking out on behalf of those who fear to do so, and of the renewed sense of purpose this role has given him.