AUSTRALIA
J-Wire
August 6, 2014 by J-Wire Staff
Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick has been elected president of the Rabbinical Council of Victoria. Social worker Vivien Resofsky has sent him an open letter.
On hearing of your appointment as President of the Rabbincial Council of Victoria I would like to ask the following:
Dear Rabbi Gutnick,
That the RCV implement the same reforms of child sexual abuse prevention as its counterpart the Rabbinical Council of America.
The Rabbinical Council of America’s resolution of July 2013 to reform child abuse prevention and its implementation by US Yeshiva University’s (YU) Centre for the Jewish Future, is a paradigm shift in child sexual abuse prevention in Orthodox Jewish America that puts our top Rabbi’s new pledge of reform behind and at odds with world leaders and its USA counterpart.
In 2010 the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) followed the Rabbinical Council of America’s direction. Its resolution, Condemning and Combating Child Abuse was identical to its American counterpart. However in the wake of the child sexual abuse crisis at Yeshiva institutions in Melbourne the RCV took a different direction.
The latest American reform that incorporates, “bringing in professionals with experience in this area to train staff and educate the community about preventing sexual abuse,” wrestles control from Rabbis and challenges the way Ultra-Orthodox communities normally operate.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.