UK – Male Victim to discuss campaign to combat sex abuse with Chief Rabbi

“I’ve been inundated with communication since I’ve spoken out. Some of it has been positive but other people have attacked me from airing my community’s dirty laundry.”

THE JEWISH CHRONICLE

A leading campaigner against child sex abuse in the Orthodox community is expected to meet Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis to discuss a global initiative to tackle the problem.

Manny Waks said the meeting would take place in the new year.

Mr Waks, who himself was abused while studying at yeshiva in Melbourne, Australia, said: “I know Rabbi Mirvis
has been very vocal in speaking out about this issue and I’m looking forward to getting him involved more.

“At the moment there are independent advocacy groups campaigning against the issue of abuse and tackling it, but it is a global problem.

“From what happened to me in Australia to what has happened in England and the United States, there needs to be some sort of group or umbrella that we can all come together under.

“We need to make sure that within our institutions there are the right procedures in place if someone is being abused and comes forward.”

Mr Waks said he had reported his abuse privately to the yeshiva leadership on several occasions, but they declined to deal with the matter.

He said that was the first of their many mistakes.

“When I came out as an abuse victim my community ostracised me and there was no procedure to help.

“Since I came out there have been positive changes. There is a leadership who are putting in the right processes to challenge it but it needs to be a unified response.”
When Mr Waks went public in 2011 with the revelation that he was a victim of child sex abuse, he said his world unravelled.

“You don’t talk about sex in the community so how are you meant to talk about abuse?
“When I told people in my community about the abuse they said ‘we are dealing with it, don’t take it anywhere else’

“I’ve been inundated with communication since I’ve spoken out. Some of it has been positive but other people have attacked me from airing my community’s dirty laundry.

“It became a battle. I was being intimidated day in day out.”

Mr Waks criticised what he called the pattern of “attacking the victim of abuse and not addressing the issue” within Orthodox communities.

He said: “It tore my family apart. My wife couldn’t walk down the street.

“I left the community, but for my parents who stayed they were subjected to vitriol and hatred.”

Since he came out about his abuse he has witnessed three court cases and convictions of paedophiles, including one extradition; a Royal Commission hearing into actions of the yeshiva; the resignation of senior rabbis; and parents in the community seeking a new governance structure for their school.

Despite his success, he warned others against the extreme “toll” that going public had on him.
He said: “It came at a great personal cost and I wouldn’t suggest to anyone who hasn’t got the support network around them to do it.”

Mr Waks who was leading one of three session on abuse scheduled at this year’s Limmud conference, urged people who have suffered abuse or are still suffering to “seek justice.”

He said: “It doesn’t have to be public but go to the police report it and seek therapy it is not something you can face on your own.

“I felt the need to confront my past, to go public, and raise awareness, it was powerful for me. But I don’t
know if I’ll ever have closure.”