The Awareness Center, Inc. (International Jewish Coaltion Against Sexual Assault): physical abuse

The Awareness Center closed. We operated from April 30, 1999 - April 30, 2014. This site is being provided for educational & historical purposes. We were the international Jewish Coalition Against Sexual Abuse/Assault (JCASA); and were dedicated to ending sexual violence in Jewish communities globally. We did our best to operate as the make a wish foundation for Jewish survivors of sex crimes. In the past we offered a clearinghouse of information, resources, support and advocacy.

Showing posts with label physical abuse. Show all posts

Sunday, March 09, 2014

Message to Survivors of Child Abuse

Important Message to Survivors of Child Abuse

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Purim and Survivors Childhood Abuse (emotional, physical and sexual abuse

Purim and Survivors Childhood Abuse

(emotional, physical and sexual abuse)

© (2010) by Vicki Polin

For most people, the holiday of Purim brings up great memories of dressing up in costumes and being silly. For others Purim is very difficult and confusing time of the year. It's a time that may conjure up past memories of parents or other adults who cared for them drinking a little too much alcohol and or being drunk. When this happened their parent, grandparent or another adult care provider might have lost their ability to control their anger, impulses and or inhabitions.

For some Purim often mean that families get together, routines are changed, there is also the added stress of cleaning and preparing meals. These issues alone can be extremely stress producing. Unfortunately the reality is that there are parents who are already inclined to use their children as an outlet for emotions and urges. They are even more likely to do so when under the pressure of increased anxiety. Many survivors of childhood abuse report that they were abuse became more intense around and over all holidays (both Jewish and secular holidays).

It is not uncommon for symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) to emerge after times of relative remission and/or intensify in those already struggling. You may experience an increase in disturbing thoughts, nightmares and flashbacks. Thoughts of self-harm, even suicide, may be an issue. The important thing to remember is these feelings are about the past, that the abuse is over, and that it is of utmost importance for you to be kind to and gentle with yourself.

This is written as a reminder to all survivors: YOU ARE NOT ALONE!

It's important to remember that whatever works for you is OK --know that you are not alone, not wrong, not bad for having second and third and forth thoughts about how to celebrate and if to celebrate the holidays. Look into yourself and see what you need, then do what you can to do it, and be kind to yourself for needing to make these adjustments.

If you are a survivor of childhood abuse and this is a difficult time of the year for you, please make plans to be with friends or support people. Be sure to call suicide hotlines if necessary. CALL: 1-800-784-2433 and you will be connected to a crisis center nearest to you.

Todah Rabah for Surviving!

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

12-year-old boy found criminally responsible for murdering neo-Nazi father

12-year-old boy found criminally responsible for murdering neo-Nazi father
Joseph Hall was just 10 years-old when he shot and killed his white supremacist father
By Tim Walker
The Independent - Jan. 15, 2013

A California judge has found a 12-year-old boy criminally responsible for murdering his neo-Nazi father.

Joseph Hall was just 10 years-old when he shot and killed his white supremacist father, Jeffrey, in the early hours of 1 May 2011. The verdict, delivered yesterday, which pronounced Joseph guilty of second-degree murder, means that the young defendant could be incarcerated in a juvenile facility until he is 23 years-old.

Judge Jean Leonard, who heard the juvenile court case without a jury, made her ruling following a trial that turned on whether the boy was fully cognisant of right and wrong when he used a .357 revolver to shoot his 32-year-old father in the head at point blank range, as he dozed on a sofa at the family’s home in Riverside County, 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

Prosecutors insisted that the killing was premeditated, and that Hall knew precisely what he was doing despite his young age. But his defense lawyer, Matthew Hardy, argued that the Hall household was defined by physical abuse, and that his client believed shooting his father would put an end to that violence. Last week Hardy withdrew Hall’s initial plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, and instead urged the judge to convict him of voluntary manslaughter. Joseph Hall chose not to testify at the trial.

Jeff Hall, an unemployed plumber with Nazi insignia tattooed on his head, was a regional director for the National Socialist Movement, which advocates the expulsion of Jews and non-white citizens from the US. He had taken his young son on night-time “patrols” of the Mexican border, donning night-vision goggles and combat clothing in a bid to detain illegal immigrants. The boy attended rallies during his father’s unsuccessful campaign for election to the local water board, at which the pair performed Nazi salutes together.

They also shared the family home – decorated with swastikas and Nazi memorabilia – with four siblings and Joseph’s stepmother, Krista McCary. A psychologist acting as a witness for the defence claimed the boy was conditioned to violence by repeated beatings from his father, as well as emotional and even sexual abuse. He was expelled from several schools, in one instance for trying to strangle a teacher with a telephone cord.

The prosecution, however, called the descriptions of Jeff’s abuse, “fiction, a smoke-screen, a red herring.” Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Michael Soccio told the court, “Joseph was not raised in the home described by the defense.” Instead, Soccio suggested, the boy killed his father because Jeff was planning to divorce McCary, to whom Joseph was close.

On the night in question, a documentary-maker was at the Hall house to capture footage of a meeting of the local National Socialist party, hosted by the victim. The footage shows a skinny, blonde Joseph listening closely to the party members’ speeches. After his father’s colleagues left, the boy returned to the room with the snub-nosed handgun that detectives later found under his bed. When police arrived at the scene, he was cowering beneath his duvet. “This father and son thing had to come to an end,” he said as he was arrested.

According to experts, 8,000 murder victims in the US in the past 32 years were killed by their children, but 16 such crimes were committed by defendants aged 10 or younger. “He’s been conditioned to violence,” Hardy told the New York Times before the trial. “He thought what he was doing was right, and while that may be hard for other people to understand, in his mind, in a child's mind, if he thought it was right, or at least didn't think it was wrong, then he cannot be held responsible.”

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Sex Offender Registry: Other Related Cases

Sex Offender's Registry of Alleged and Convicted Offenders

Other Related Cases
THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

(Rabbis, Cantors and Other Trusted Officials)

Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor" (Leviticus 19:16).

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Also See:

Other Related Cases

Case of Eyal Benyosef (Hollis Hills, NY; Toms River, NJ) (Eyal Benyosef is wanted for faily to comply with bail from an incident in 1994 when he was charged with kidnapping of a law enforcement officer; armed robbery, carjackijng and escape.)
Case of Unnamed The Dentist Couple (Kfar Sava, Israel) (Charged with Severely Abusing Daughters)
Case of Rabbi Tzvi Flaum (Far Rockaway, NY; Lawrence, NY) (Breach of Confidentiality)
Case of Rabbi Bernard Freilich (Borough Park/Brooklyn, NY) (Acquitted of death threats to an alleged victim)
Case of Kenneth Gribetz, District Attorney (Rockland County, NY) (Plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of defrauding the government in a deal he worked out with the U.S. Attorney. Although married, a father and grandfather, Gribetz was partly done in by his former mistress, who went to the media with information about him.)
Case of Michael Hersh, Miriam Hersh (Brooklyn, NY) (Allegations were made that Isaac Hersh's parents and rabbi knew that Isaac Hersh would be abused and neglected if he was sent to Tranquility Bay Reform School in Jamaica).
Case of Rabbi Steven Jacobs (Los Angeles, CA) (Accused of clergy sexual abuse. according to Michele Samit's book, "No Sanctuary: The True Story of a Rabbi's Deadly Affair" -- after Anita Green's husband learned Rabbi Jacobs was sexually involved with his wife, Anina Green, he murdered her )
Case of Asher Lipner (Accused of misrepresenting himself as a psychologist prior to being licensed. He also was accused numerous times of violating confidentiality of clients and other survivors he worked with)
Cases Involving Modesty Patrol in Chasidic and Charedi Communities
Case of Amy Neustein (This is a case of alleged child abuse and neglect. As of October 27, 2008 there have never been any allegations of a sex crime)
Case of Rabbi Rabbi Aharon Schechter (Allegations were made that Isaac Hersh's parents and rabbi knew that Isaac hersh would be abused and neglected if he was sent to Tranquility Bay Reform School in Jamaica).
Case of Rabbi Sholom Twersky (Brooklyn, NY) - (Case of alleged child physical abuse).
Case of Rabbi Dovid Weinberger (Lawrence, NY) (Breach of Confidentiality)
Case of Rabbi Gershon Winkler (Cuba, NM; Thousand Oaks, CA) ("Acknowledged that he fathered a child with a student, carried on several "intimate relationships" with students over the years and said he is currently in a relationship with two women." Winklder also believes it is wrong to insist on an "across-the-board" ban on sexual relationships involving rabbis and followers, teachers and students, and counselors and patients.")

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