When Manny Waks went public with his experience of childhood sexual abuse in Melbourne’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, he fell into a position advocating for fellow survivors. It’s been rewarding, but has taken a high toll on his own recovery. He writes about his experience.
When I went public in 2011 with my story of how I had been sexually abused as a child by two separate perpetrators within my Orthodox Jewish school and community, and how the leaders of that community had enabled and then covered up these crimes, I had no idea of the impact that would have.
Fast forward six years and we have seen several perpetrators brought to justice, organisations and leaders held to account, a number of other victims seeking accountability for the abuse they suffered, two Royal Commission public hearings into the Yeshivah Centre and Chabad institutions in which I was raised, and a revolution in terms of awareness, education and prevention within the Jewish community and particularly the more Orthodox segments of that community, not only within Australia but globally.
And yet despite these achievements and milestones, my own personal trauma and suffering has only intensified. The personal cost of the work I continue to do, has been enormous.
Read the full article by Manny Waks at SBS.