A Parallel Justice System for Sex Abuse

2011 – As Hella Winston reports for The Jewish Week, “.. a Jewish religious tribunal [is] operating as a kind of shadow justice system, adjudicating sexual abuse cases without the involvement of law enforcement… It is a world where victims and perpetrators alike are subjected to threats of social ostracism and, in some cases, physical harm for non-compliance with the ‘system.’ … ‘Most victims of abuse and parents in Lakewood are afraid to speak up because [they fear being threatened by rabbis],’ Debbie Rudin, a victim of childhood sexual abuse who now lives in Lakewood, told The Jewish Week.”