PENNSYLVANIA
Fox 43
by Trang Do
Multi-media Journalist
Sexual abuse is a serious problem that far too often is kept hidden, and when it happens in a community as isolated as the Amish, it’s even more difficult for victims to be helped and offenders to be prosecuted.
FOX 43′s Trang Do has the story of a former Amish family and community leaders who are trying to break the culture of silence through outreach and education.
“I grew up Amish, not knowing any different. And I loved it, I loved my parents. Yeah, I loved it. I never dreamed that I would not be Amish,” said a former Amish woman whose name we are withholding.
But one difficult day, she and her husband made the decision to leave the only way of life they’d ever known, after discovering their children had been sexually abused.
When they brought up the issue with leaders of their church, they said they were told to forgive and forget, something the couple just couldn’t bring themselves to do.
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