Reporter Hella Winston and editor Robert Goldblum have received an Honorable Mention for their series “Child Sexual Abuse in the Ultra-Orthodox Community” by the The Journalism Center on Children and Families, which awards the Casey Medal for Meritoroius Journalism. The series ran in The Jewish Week (New York). The award citation reads: “The ultra-Orthodox Jewish community has a long history of handling problems like the sexual abuse of children internally without reporting or cooperating with law enforcement officials. Instead, suspects are subject to a process that involves rabbis, religious tribunals, social workers and community watchdogs. This shadow system ultimately denies justice to victims, casts out whistleblowers and enables perpetrators to continue endangering children. The Jewish Week’s coverage encouraged abuse victims to come forward and spurred mainstream media outlets into action. The judges praised the series for sending a message to ethnic media to be unafraid to air and take on problems in their own communities.”
The Fund for Investigative Journalism gave financial support to Winston’s reporting on this issue in Lakewood, New Jersey.