IT’S A WAKE-UP CALL, SAYS MIRVIS

CHEIF RABBI Ephraim Mirvis called the report an “urgent wakeup call” and said abuse must not be tolerated.

Rabbi Mirvis was cited in the report as providing a good example of leadership on countering sex abuse.

The report confirmed “beyond doubt that perpetrators find it all too easy to hide in an environment where religious institutions command a great deal of respect and where a hierarchy of religious leadership is in place,” he said.

“These, together with a variety of other cultural factors, including a power imbalance and fear of reputational damage, have made our children more vulnerable to the scourge of abuse. This cannot be allowed to continue any longer.”

While the IICSA recognised that some organisations were better prepared to deal with abuse than others, he stressed it was “incumbent upon us all to read it in detail, consider what we can learn and most importantly of all, respond with action. The failure to protect our children… is a complete abrogation of our responsibility to God and to one another. It cannot and must not be tolerated.”