Calls to act after sex revelations
COMMUNAL LEADERS have said there should be “robust and clear procedures” to tackle sexual harassment in the community.
Jonathan Arkush, President of the Board of Deputies, said the organisation is to launch a consultation across the community on measures to combat the problem.
His comments come after six women told the JC that they had been the victims of inappropriate behaviour from male colleagues while working for Jewish communal organisations.
“It is important that we have a much clearer picture of the extent of any sexual harassment allowed to occur and whether it is being properly addressed,” Mr Arkush said.
Meanwhile, a female rabbi has called on her rabbinical colleagues to speak out against sexual harassment.
Rabbi Hannah Kingston of Alyth Reform Synagogue said she was the target of inappropriate comments on a weekly basis.
“I can lead an entire service and have someone come up to me at the end and say ‘oh you look pretty today’. That wouldn’t happen to a male colleague.”
THE BOARD of Deputies is examining “ways to put in place robust and clear procedures” to tackle sexual harassment in the community.
Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board, said he was “very concerned about reports of sexual harassment occurring in public life in our country” and planned to launch a consultation on measures to combat the problem in the community.
He said the Board was responding to claims of abuse by establishing ways in which “unacceptable behaviour can be effectively challenged and an environment created where every person feels respected, secure and protected”.
The pledge to confront the problem follows a series of claims of sexual abuse against figures in Hollywood and at Westminster. Mr Arkush pointed out that the Jewish community was no exception to wider society and reports of harassment had to be taken seriously.
“It is important that we have a much clearer picture of the extent of any sexual harassment allowed to occur and whether it is being properly addressed,” he said.
“The community must set itself high standards and adopt equally high expectations of behaviour in our communal, professional and personal life.”
His comments come after six women told the JC how they had been the victims of inappropriate behaviour from male colleagues while working for Jewish communal organisations, and that their complaints had been ignored.
Mr Arkush said: “Every person has the right to be treated with dignity and respect. No one should have to suffer unwanted behaviour of a sexual nature.
“Society must recognise and uphold clear boundaries in the way that we interact with each other.
“No one should be left in any doubt that behaviour towards another person that they find offensive or which makes them feel distressed, intimidated or humiliated is completely unacceptable.”