More on sexual abuse in Melbourne
Medical emergency service Hatzolah has issued a statement in which they say they have experienced “the impact of sexual abuse in Melbourne and welcome the establishment of abuse advocacy group Tzedek.
Manny Waks, the founder of Tzedek said: “This is a major new development in the ongoing child sexual abuse scandal facing our community. The revelation by Hatzolah, the Jewish community’s emergency response service, that in their experience there is a direct link between child sexual abuse (CSA) and self-harm and attempted suicides within our community is an extraordinary development. These are the people who are at the front line in providing emergency services within the Jewish community and this revelation is based on their personal experience. To my knowledge this is the first direct and unequivocal link that we’ve seen between CSA and suicides within our community. Of course this is unsurprising as it has been widely reported in other communities for many years. This first public report about the link between CSA and suicides within the Jewish community demonstrates yet again just how far behind we really are.
It highlights the enormity of this issue, and the long-overdue and unequivocal response it urgently requires. Now that we have additional critical facts we must confront this issue with even greater vigour and determination.
Tzedek is literally a life-saving initiative that must be embraced by the entire Jewish community, especially by the leadership. I’m delighted that Hatzolah has recognised this fact and has elected to endorse Tzedek’s work.
We look forward to working closely with Hatzolah in addressing this issue.”
This is a long overdue conversation that underpins a number of issues of paramount importance in the Jewish community. I’m very impressed.