ISRAEL
Times of Israel
By Dr. Michael J. Salamon
A few weeks ago, in an early morning action, Israeli police arrested 22 haredi men for the alleged sexual abuse of minors and adult women. These men came from four cities in Israel and, until their arrest, had allegedly been investigated, tried, and treated within their own communities – not by proper governmental authorities.
This internal communal method, where a local rabbi or bet din determines how to best handle specific abusers and control sexual offenders, has been an open secret for years. And while community members may have thought the process worked, I can assure you it never really did.
I learned several years ago that in at least one haredi community, sexual predators who were caught by local “modesty squads” had to submit to an ongoing course of chemical castration if they wanted to remain in their neighborhoods.
While I might privately agree that castration, chemical or otherwise, may seem deserved (albeit barbaric), this approach, in which vigilante-style justice is meted out, creates a series of problems for the larger society.
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