'Growing' Sexual Abuse Scandal Among Brooklyn's Hasidic Jews: NPR

According to a story reported today on NPR's All Things Considered, an increasing number of alleged victims are coming forward in a scandal involving the sexual abuse of minors in Brooklyn's Hasidic Jewish community.

Two alleged victims who were raised as Hasidic Jews -- after years of silence -- tell NPR's Barbara Bradley Hagerty about the sexual abuse they endured as children.

Though "only" four ultra-Orthodox rabbis in Brooklyn have been sued or arrested for abusing boys in the past three years, "That's a tiny fraction of the actual abuse, says Hella Winston, author of Unchosen: The Hidden Lives of Hasidic Rebels. . . . the community is so insulated and the rabbis are so powerful that few dare to come forward."

Last August, politician and radio talk show host Dov Hikind, who is Orthodox himself, devoted an hourlong program to sexual abuse. The calls flooded in.

"Fifty, 60, 70 people," he says, "but you got to remember for each person who comes forward, God only knows how many people are not coming forward." Hikind is working with the district attorney's office.

One rabbi says, "It's being blown out of proportion, big time."

More at NPR.

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