AUSTRALIA
J-Wire

June 20, 2013 by Manny Waks

The Commonwealth Royal Commission Inquiry into child sexual abuse within organisations has now commenced. Tzedek, an Australian-based advocacy group for Jewish victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, is uniquely positioned to provide evidence to the Royal Commission about the nature and extent of past and present child sexual abuse within Jewish organisations.

Tzedek has already gathered significant evidence of sexual abuse against children and young people in organisational settings. Now, as the Royal Commission prepares to hear evidence of the extent of abuse across Australia, an opportunity exists to help piece together our community’s proper understanding of this issue that has historically, and tragically, been enveloped in silence.

How many Jewish children and young people have suffered alone in the agony of sexual abuse? In which organisations has this occurred, and with whose knowledge? Who are the perpetrators, who are…