Cash cuts put sex victims at risk, says charity boss
THE COMMUNITY’S leading sex abuse charity could close after its funding was cut last year, its founder has warned.
Yehudis Goldsobel, who set up Migdal Emunah after going public about her own abuse five years ago, said the Mayor of London acted on the grounds that it was “too specialist”.
“We were only helping Jewish victims but there was no way I could have opened it up to support others because I was supporting 65 people on my own,” said Ms Goldsobel, 32.
“We don’t like to talk about sex as a society, let alone sex abuse in the community. It is the thing that shall not be talked about but there is a desperate need. To victims, we are a life-line. To know that we even exist is extremely symbolic for people.”
She said Jewish victims would not use “mainstream providers” and recently started a new support group in Manchester. Next month she will launch a helpline for victims. But te charity is on borrowed time.
“I am giving it to the end of this year, and if we don’t get the support, we will have to close because we are literally emptying the bank account,” she said.
She accused communal bodies and religious leaders of silencing victims Yehudis Goldsobel: ‘hidden crimes’
by not providing “somewhere for them to turn”, adding: “Most of the time all victims and survivors want is to be listened to. To be heard is a basic human need and we are shutting people down because we feel uncomfortable.”
Ms Goldsobel sought help herself in 2010 after years of suffering abuse as a child by family friend, Mendy Levy.
As a result, rabbis refused to acknowledge her suffering, her family were driven from their synagogue and kosher shops refused to serve them.
She said: “When I started [the charity] the phone didn’t stop ringing. Since then I have supported over 400 people.
“It is not just victims, it is teachers, parents, and friends who are concerned and want to know how they can help or what to do when they see the signs.
“They have experienced everything and anything from sexual abuse, rapes within the family, outside the family, in school, in shul, and in youth groups.
“They have nowhere else to go because the community doesn’t want to know about it.
“I have heard from one victim that a safeguarding officer in a progressive movement didn’t respond when an 18-year-old disclosed their experiences of sexual abuse because it didn’t fit their remit. They left them with nothing, and that is happening everywhere in our community.”
She criticised the constant support for perpetrators within the Orthodox community, citing her own case as an example. Her abuser was jailed for three years — then honoured by Chabad Lubavitch UK.
Chabad accepted a Sefer Torah he donated, and in 2015, the organisation agreed to remove a plaque from the giant Menorah which honoured him.
Despite this, the Menorah continues to be used at the candle lighting events at Trafalgar Square.