UNITED STATES
New Jersey Jewish News
by Deborah Rosenbloom
November 18, 2014
With all the conversations surrounding the allegations against my congregation’s former rabbi, Barry Freundel, no one is saying what desperately needs to be said — that voyeurism is sexual assault and that eliminating sexual assault in our communities should be the direction of our next steps.
In e-mails, blogs, and articles, the reaction to allegations that Freundel installed hidden cameras in order to view women in the mikva has focused repeatedly on the specific location of the crime, the importance of making mikvot safer, and the abuse of rabbinic authority. But deciding to change who controls the mikva is a narrow perspective on the wider issue of violence against women, and addressing this as an isolated incident would be a mistake. Although considering policies to make our religious spaces safer is certainly worthwhile, it is important that we recognize voyeurism as a form of sexual assault, with its own place on the spectrum of violence against women.
Sexual assault is often thought to be synonymous with rape. But according to the National Institute of Justice, sexual assault encompasses a range of unwanted sexual behaviors, including voyeurism. Whether the perpetrator is peeping through a window, hiding video cameras in locker rooms, posting illegally obtained intimate photographs, or forwarding explicit private photographs intended for one viewer only, he is committing sexual assault.
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