By RUTH EGLASH


05/15/2012 04:23




Course launched recently to train haredi counselors to work with sexually abused kids shows openness to once taboo issue.
A course launched last month to train haredi (ultra-
Orthodox) male counselors how to work with sexually abused children in
their community indicates a new willingness to address an issue that was
once considered taboo.The course, which is being run by the
Jerusalem-based Haruv Institute for some 20 male social workers,
therapists and psychologists from the haredi world, teaches participants
how to work with ultra- Orthodox children who struggle to speak out
about what has happened to them because of the Jewish tenet of lashon
hara (the prohibition against speaking badly about others),
unconditional respect for their elders and lack of appropriate
vocabulary.
Related:

[*] Haredim increasingly open to addressing sexual abuse[/*][*]
Sexual abuse allegations lodged in W. Bank yeshiva[/*]

“The
whole approach to this is different for haredim than for secular
people,” said Tali Shlomi, director of Knowledge, Technology and
Resources at Haruv, which was established four years ago to provide
professionals with the training and tools to deal with sexual abuse and
neglect.“There is a lot of sensitivity around this topic and
often, the children do not even have the words to explain what has
happened to them,” she said.Shlomi, who coordinates all of
Haruv’s courses for the haredi community, explained that while a secular
child might be able to describe to their parent that someone has
carried out sexual acts on them, for a haredi child it is much more
complex.“These children have a deep conflict in talking about
what has happened to them,” she observed, adding that the fact Haruv
succeeded in finding 20 ultra-Orthodox men to take the course indicates a
shift in attitudes in the community.“It is the result of other
changes that have taken place in the community over the past 10 years,
including an increase in haredim in the workplace and the discourse
around military service,” said Shlomi, who has already run two previous
courses for haredi female professionals and those graduates now work
with child victims of sexual abuse. “The community is much more open and
willing to confront this issue.”While the course for male
professionals is still in its early days, Shlomi said that there is
already a waiting list of more than 40 women who want to take this
training course in the future.“Those that I interviewed for the
course said that they felt a responsibility to be ambassadors in their
community and really want to tackle this issue,” she said, highlighting
that for cultural and religious reasons, women counselors in the haredi
community are not able to work with boys over the age of 11 and men stop
direct interaction with girls when they are still very young.There
is a severe lack of specially trained ultra-Orthodox counselors
available in general to work with victims of sexual abuse from within
that community, she said.Although Shlomi could not provide exact
figures on the number of cases of sexual abuse within the haredi
community – those reported are likely only the tip of the iceberg – she
did point to the recent exposure of a serial pedophile operating in a
Jerusalem neighborhood and other incidents that have meant the community
can no longer ignore the subject.“There is no doubt that there
has been an increase in awareness among the haredim and their response
has been a willingness to confront the problem,” she stated.Data
provided by the Magen child protection agency located in Beit Shemesh,
another city with a large haredi population, confirms Shlomi’s analysis.The organization, which runs a hotline for families and victims to report cases
of neglect and sexual abuse, notes that since starting its work in Beit Shemesh
nearly two years ago there have been reports from more than 100 families – 95
percent of them describing themselves as ultra-Orthodox – of abuse against their
children.Already some 40 men have been identified from these reports as being a

danger to children, with 15 men already arrested for their crimes.“We
are seeing a significant change in attitudes just in a year and a half
of Magen’s awareness raising and community programs,” commented David
Morris, executive director of Magen. “The quantity and frequency of
parents and kids now coming to Magen and to the state authorities has
been increasing each month.”He added: “We are pleased that Magen
is already trusted by members of the public, and within the haredi
community in particular, with these most sensitive and important matters
– and we admire the courage of parents who are increasingly open to
improving the safety of their children, and to responsibly addressing
this risk in our community.”http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=269977

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