Tzedek wants stricter mikve rules

AUSTRALIA
Jerusalem Post

Tzedek, which advocates for members of the Jewish community who have been sexually abused, issued a set of recommended guidelines on Tuesday.

Stricter oversight is required at ritual baths, known in Hebrew as mikvaot, in order to prevent child molestation, according to one Australian Jewish organization.

Tzedek, which advocates for members of the Jewish community who have been sexually abused, issued a set of recommended guidelines on Tuesday that it hopes will find widespread acceptance and that would overhaul the manner in which such religious facilities are managed.

Tzedek and its founder Manny Waks, himself a former victim, have been embroiled in a number of high profile disputes with Orthodox educational institutions accused of covering up past abuses and protecting the guilty parties.

In a document available in English and Hebrew, Tzedek recommended that youths attending the mikve should be accompanied by their fathers or a designated supervisor, that “alleged or convicted perpetrators” not be allowed within the facility while children are present and defining procedures for the admittance of children so that “their whereabouts are always known.”

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