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By

Joe Millis

Opinion

A silver lining after Katzav

April 8, 2011 10:55
1 min read

As Jenni Frazer and Simon Rocker pointed out, there was quite a bit of sympathy from Orthodox rabbis for ex-President and serial sex abuser Moshe Katzav, soon to be going to prison for seven years.
However, there is one silver lining after the Katzav affair - and that of the affair of Rabbi Mordechai (Motti ) Elon, who is being investigated on charges of allegedly molesting minors (a charge he denies) -- and that is that it has sparked awareness among Orthodox women of sexual abuse.
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/reality-is-changing-1.353477
The deputy head of the Tehilla state religious School in Jerusalem, Tirza Frenkel - herself a victim of childhood sexual abuse -- said: "I used the case in civics classes to describe court proceedings, to explain what a plea bargain is and why Katsav turned it down - and to discuss sexual abuse. In Orthodox parlance, we talk about how every woman was created in the divine image, and therefore has a right to her body and must not be violated."
She told her students that "the personal message to all of you is that you has the right to safeguard your body and to do with it as you see fit, and nobody has the right to demand anything else."
This is progress.

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