Breaking the Silence (ATOM Study Guide)

There needs to be some consequences for what the victims suffered for so long and by so many. Acknowledgement, not just that the sexual abuse happened, not just that the cover-ups happened, but the acknowledgement that leaders could have and should have done so much more, but didn't. – Manny Waks

Breaking the Silence is a one-hour documentary film from the producer and director of ABC's award-winning Code of Silence. It tells the story of the sex scandal within the Chabad-Lubavitch ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Melbourne and Sydney, a story that may not have come to light had it not been for Manny Waks' determination to expose this story.

The documentary unfolds in three main acts:

1. The explosive revelations from the Royal Commission in Australia into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
2. The dramatic fallout, in which several rabbis resign, while others stubbornly cling to their posts
3. Following Manny Waks' trail to Israel, where his parents have relocated; then on to New York, where Manny confronts his second perpetrator, hoping to close the book on this horrific scandal; and finally to Los Angeles to come face-to-face with a convicted perpetrator who fled Sydney

The documentary explores several questions as the story unfolds:

• What does it take for the sex abuse of children to be revealed?
• How do families and community members reach to these secrets being made public and the perpetrators being brought to account?
• What is at stake for those who speak out about their own experiences within a highly secretive and private community?
• What is the cost to individuals of 'blowing the whistle'?
• How do the people who covered up the abuse and attacked the victims and their families defend and explain their actions?
• What, if any, place exists for perpetrators in learning the lessons of child sex abuse?
• How can a Royal Commission help vindicate the victims and facilitate justice?

Curriculum Guidelines

The documentary would fit well within a number of curriculum areas including English, Australian Society and Culture, Religion and Society, and Values and Ethics.