Reshet held ‘policy amnesty’ to help safeguarding
Director of community’s primary trainer in youth provision, Shelley Marsh, gave testimony at the Independent Inquiry in Child Sexual Abuse in Religious Settings this week.
The Jewish community’s primary trainer in youth provider has said it held a safeguarding “policy amnesty” to work out what organisations had in-place and where the gaps were.
Shelley Marsh, director of Reshet, acknowledged the intervention in online testimony at the Independent Inquiry in Child Sexual Abuse in Religious Settings this week.
Set up in 2015, Reshet trains synagogue leaders and informal educators delivering youth provision in the Jewish community and Marsh said she asked to see safeguarding policies “with no judgements” because she wanted Jewish groups to be “open and honest”.
Asked about policy inconsistencies within the community, she admitted possible “confusion” in the area of child protection, adding that “it definitely was challenged… I think there have been improvements”.
Marsh was asked about testimony from Migdal Emunah activist Yehudis Goldsobel that Orthodox Jewish groups would only engage with other Orthodox groups. “I perceive that to be true,” said Marsh. “I think it’s a problem.”
She described the lack of quality assurance in child protection training as “a real challenge” for the community, saying: “I don’t think it’s a greater challenge to one part of the Jewish community than another. It’s across-the-board.”
Marsh later denied calling Migdal Emunah’s content “raw and unpalatable” but said: “There are ways in which Ms Goldsobel may have spoken that people have struggled to hear.”
Although the NSPCC is one of Reshet’s two main partners, she said NSPCC’s 2015 child protection document specifically for the Jewish community was “of its time,” criticising phrases such as “many Jewish children are taught acceptable ways to dress and behave”.
Marsh said: “I didn’t see it when I went to a variety of synagogues or youth organisations… I don’t think it was the most useful document to share with the Jewish community.”
Ms Marsh states that the safeguarding training is scenario based, and that this is relevant to the community.
She highlights the importance of ensuring that situational nuances are meaningful for the target audience. pic.twitter.com/aIPSNhO1sN
— InquiryCSA (@InquiryCSA) May 11, 2020
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
