Review Article Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Jewish Community: A Literature Review Efrat Lusky-Weisrose 1 , Amitai Marmor 1 , and Dafna Tener 1 Abstract Sexual abuse is a cross-cultural phenomenon related to multiple cultural contexts including religious affiliation. The Haredi, or Orthodox Jewish community (OJC), constitutes a significant minority group of the worldwide Jewish population, characterized by cultural conservatism, steadfast loyalty to the community, and strict religious behavioral codes. To date, only few empirical studies (as opposed to multiple media reports) have dealt with the issue of sexual abuse within the OJC. Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of the literature on sexual abuse within the OJC and its subgroups that addresses experiences and reports of victims, perpetrators, the Jewish and general community, and professionals in the North America, Israel, and Australia. Articles were collected from peer-reviewed databases and bib- liographies; 13 quantitative and qualitative articles were included in the final sample. Three themes emerged: disclosure of sexual abuse, perceptions and attitudes toward the abuse, and its implications. Results indicated that alongside several findings that were specifically grounded in the context of closed collective or religious societies and the OJC in particular, most essentially reflected universal aspects of sexual abuse. The results suggest promoting context-informed interventions based on community knowledge and resilience, together with appropriate training in order to better understand the needs of the OJC and of closed communities in general. Keywords sexual abuse, Orthodox Jewish community (OJC), religious communities, ultra-Orthodox community, Haredi community, cultural contexts Sexual abuse is a large-scale, worldwide social problem that can result in a wide range of consequences for victims, their families, and society at large, whether occurring in child- hood (e.g., Alisic et al., 2014; Corwin & Keeshin, 2011; Malloy et al., 2011) or in adulthood (e.g., Maker et al., 2001; Peterson et al., 2011; Sigurvinsdottir & Ullman, 2015; Ullman & Najdowski, 2011). During the last few decades, many efforts have been made to understand pat- terns of victims’ disclosure and the responses to it among children (e.g., McElvaney, 2015; Reitsema & Grietens, 2016) and adults (e.g., DiMauro & Renshaw, 2018). The literature discusses how cultural context is a core component in sexual abuse victims’ lives including adults (e.g., Ahrens et al., 2010) and particularly children (e.g., Fontes et al., 2001; Fontes & Plummer, 2010; Graham et al., 2016; Haboush & Alyan, 2013; Reid et al., 2014; Wang & Heppner, 2011). Religiosity is a prominent cultural issue when discuss- ing sexual abuse (Harper & Perkins, 2018; Tishelman & Geffner, 2010), particularly in communities characterized by normative and physical isolation from the surrounding society (Foynes et al., 2014). The empirical literature on sexual abuse in such communities remains limited because of the difficulty in obtaining access to them. Few studies have been conducted on specific religious communities, such the Catholic Church (Collins et al., 2014; Dale & Alpert, 2007; Parkinson, 2014), Amish (McGuigan & Stephenson, 2015), Mormons (Gerdes et al., 1996), and Muslims (Haboush & Alyan, 2013; Sambisa et al., 2010). With regard to sexual abuse within the Orthodox Jewish community (OJC), there is body of literature (e.g., Alessi & Zevi, 2009; Bedihi, 2008; Ben Meir & Levavi, 2010; Dorff, 2003; Neustein, 2009; Neustein & Lesher, 2008; Resnicoff, 2012), alongside media and new media publications (e.g., Ettinger & Hasson, 2013), whereas research writing under scholarly standards remains extremely poor (Katzenstein & Fontes, 2017). This article reviews this literature in order to form a basis for future research, with the hope of expanding our knowledge on this important phenomenon. 1 Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel Corresponding Author: Efrat Lusky-Weisrose, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel. Email: efratlusky@gmail.com TRAUMA, VIOLENCE, & ABUSE 1-18 ª The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1524838020906548 journals.sagepub.com/home/tva