By the GBC task force team members
Around the world, a leading cause of death and injury for women is association with violent men. Women can be beaten and abused by the very people they look to for protection, husbands, fathers, civil authorities, members of the armed forces. In some cases, even clergy members violate the trust of the women in their congregations.
In a recent positive development, ISKCON’s GBC has constituted a task force charged with identifying and rectifying abuse of women. Domestic violence, sexual assault and other atrocities may take place in any organization, so following on their bold approach of openly addressing past problems of child abuse, ISKCON’s leaders have taken a step toward healing rather than hiding injuries to ISKCON’s female members.
Srila Prabhupada reminded his followers that we are not this body. Based on the intricacies of karmic reaction, a soul can change from male body in one lifetime to female body in the next. Srila Prabhupada was unique among his peers in engaging women in active preaching, basing assignments on ability and not just gender. By valuing the soul, not the bodily dress, Srila Prabhupada taught us that all devotees are to be cherished.
A common response to incidents of abuse of women is to say “it’s not my problem,” or “it’s a private, family matter.” In fact, abuse of Vaisnavis affects everyone in our ISKCON family. The wife who is assaulted by her husband is also the mother of second or third generation devotees. What will those children think of a misrepresentation of Vaisnava philosophy that demands “submission” at the cost of bruises and broken bones?
The son raised by an abusive father to believe that a husband’s role includes violence may be the Vaisnava that your daughter or granddaughter marries. The daughter, raised to fear her violent father, may be the mother of your grandchild. “Family problems” have an unfortunate way of spreading quickly.
Srila Prabhupada instructed us that Vaisnavas have a duty to protect women. The Kurus were executed on the battlefield of Kuruksetra (at least in part) because they failed to protect Draupadi in the assembly hall.
The problem of systemic abuse of women plagues religious and secular organizations around the world. From the United States Air Force Academy to refugee camps around Sudan, women report beatings, rapes, sexual extortion and other indignities. As a global organization, ISKCON has the opportunity to become a leader in improving the treatment of women everywhere. We offer our prayers to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna that we are up to the challenge.
HH Kavicandra Swami,
Tamohara prabhu (Director of Office of Child Protection-USA),
Sudharma prabhu (Women’s Ministry-USA),
Dr. Kamlesh Bahl (UK trained lawyer and former Chairwoman of UK’s Equal Opportunities Commission-UK),
Gokularani prabhu (physiotherapist/city hospital manager – Australia)
Praghosa Dasa prabhu (GBC/Mayapura Development Committee – Ireland)
Radha devi prabhu (Legal Clinic Director, Shelter from the Storm – USA)
The Task Force has identified three areas in which programs for the protection of women will be developed. Those include education on identifiying and preventing abuse, support services for abuse survivors, and a quasi-judicial body for dealing with allegations of past and present abuse.
Questions, suggestions, and volunteers are welcome! In addition, the Task Force would like to document reports of abuse and offer support to abuse survivors. Reports and referrals will be kept confidential at the request of the abuse survivor. Please contact Radha dasi at rebecca@shelterfromthestorm.com for more information.
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The one thing that attracted me to the devotees was their openess and honesty.
The one thing that helped me get over my sexual abuse was Srila Prabhupada’s books and the loving care and understanding of the ladys from New Zealand who were visiting the UK.
I was scared of being involved in any religious organization as my farther was a ministerial servent for the Jehovahs Witnesses and several of the congregational elders knew about it but did nothing, later they said it was for me to forgive as what he did was nothing major.
I also had the oppertunity to speak to Tamohara prabhu on his visit to Bhaktividanta Manor his presentation was amazing and much better than the child protection lectures I recieved whilst working on the childrens wards, Although a bit sad I didn’t get an e-mail of the notes.
Their is no way I can ever repay the devotees for healing the wounds created in my childhood and although I am not a woman (I am one of the few male child rape victims) it is only within ISKCON do I feel safe.
I hope this helps other to be inspired to at least trust, yes mistakes were made in the past but ISKCON has learnt so much from these errors and can heal and help all those injured souls in need of healing
I am glad for the team forming. I really appreciate the devotees who even amidst busy schedule are taking up to these important services.
Some reservations came up to my mind due to some reasons such as logistics, uncompleted previous projects and whether or not we are ready to execute this task.
# 1 Logistics and managerial
We have limited power to protect!
Is the team clarifying and defining:
First of all:
*Who is a devotee eligible for protection?
*How will you protect women from domestic assaults? Or even if some temple mistreats a woman badly, say, somewhere in India, what action would you take?
# 2. Are we ready to protect?
First we need to kick out the abusers of women and children who are playing the role of saviours. We need some psychological, aptitute tests to put the right person to avoid problem from the foundation.
Many of us get to know these problems more when we travel, being a pyschotherapist and a palmist, every year during my travel several ISKCON women approach me with incredible stories of abuses and assaults. Being an insider of ISKCON, what hurts me is that sometimes temple in-charges are the abusers! (Of course its not always sexual abuse.) Somehow it’s covered up, as if nothing happened. We got to make the women feel safe to speak up also. How?
Recently I heard abuses which occurred years ago by the same person to different people and no one had a clue.
Last year when I was in South America, one of our “temple in-charge,” a senior devotee made a 17 yr old bhakin pregnant.
# 3 Are we following laws:
The Child Protection Office was formed. As far as I know we don’t have such a CP team in each and every temple in India! So are we going to make another law and don’t care if one follows or not?
Again I appreciate the initiative of each member involved.
your servant,
Sri Sakti dd
Why stop at the abuse of women ?
ys mvdas
Scandal and sensationalism generate a lot of buzz. It’s most unfortunate that something as positive and affirmative as the creation of this task force has not – so far on Dandavats at least- received the accolades (or “Hell, yeah!”s if you’re living in the South) that it truly deserves.
All glories to the task force members who are giving of their time and energy to this most valuable service.
I have a question for the experts. It is a documented fact (and I have personally witnessed this phenomenon) that abused women often have a peculiar tendency to “cover for” their abusers, at their own expense and, most tragically, at the expense of their children, who grow up in a household with a completely distorted perspective of reality, in which their mother is often bruised black and blue and often even beaten in their presence. What can be done to “get through to” to these women? What can be done to help them if they, for whatever reasons, choose to protect their abusers?
This is a small but significant step towards protection of both woman and children and as far as I am aware ISKCON is the only movement trying to address this issue on a global scale.
Do we realise how long it took the UK’s National Health Service to instigate child protection laws and the fact that dispite this we still at times hear that the system fails.
The UK goverment only this month anounced an increase in the budget of providing safe rooms for woman, so as vunrable times they can lock themselves away untill the danger is removed or the police intervine.
The devotees are well aware of the scale of the task ahead and it may be years before we see the desired results, but a start is a start.
The child protection guidelines are far wider than that of the NHS which is good to see.
I am greatful to all the devotees who are engaged in this service, after all Srila Prabhupada wanted ISKCON as a place we can all go to and feel protected and make spiritual progress
Latita Madhava d.d.
You ask very important questions and I thank you.
I am going to reply in an open way and share my thoughts.
On the childrens wards I had on occasions had to put in a course for concern, and on one occasion refused to discharge a child untill a child protection doctor had been to see her. I am glad to say he agreed to my assessment and her discharge was delayed.
I also not that the children most young girls had felt that they had themselves deserved this punichment as they had see it happen to their mums.
Myself a rape victim lernt later on that my mum was forced to give sexual favours or risk being hit, like me as a child.
Eventually I plucked up enough courage to go to the police, I have many problems and this has hindered my relationship with others but most of all with the devotees.
I feel safe and secure in ISKCON now but this was not the case even a year ago.
Protection of woman and children is always difficult and at times hard as the victim becomes attached and even loves the person who is committing the crime, many prosecution fail becouse the victim withdraws the statment, he will stop, it wont happen again, he loves me, he was going through a hard time, it wasn’t his fault.
We can only be their, and if they are willing then we can help.
Sometimes though we have to make a stand.
The last time I looked at my parents was at the crown courts in Chester, it is a price I had to pay to protect my brothers and sisters.
On the wards sometimes I had to face the wroth of the parents again in order to protect the child, sometimes the child would be returned with help and support for the parent, sometimes the child would be removed.
By educating the young men to respect woman eventually we will see it violance towards them diminish.
I hope this goes some way to answer your question
It is a admirable that there is such an ‘official’ initiative. Any social service that our movement wants to provide will need resources; mostly ‘workers’ and funds. Once that these are in place there need to be a campaign to raise awareness and provide information and accessibility of resources for those in need.
Congratulations and hopefully this becomes an structured assistance for our devotees and -why not- people in general. There are many religious organisations that specialise in helping the needy. This doesn’t mean only those who don’t have something to eat, but includes anyone who needs assistance wether regarding addictions, financial necessity, mental illness, abuse, old age, etc, these are all areas that people in general may need help with and Iskcon certainly can provide help due to the quality of compassion that its devotees have.
Ys, Id
Someone raised the question as to why a sannyasi is heading the committee to prevent abuse to women. I do not believe that very many devotees would
have the same question, but here my views, for what they are worth.
First, I am not heading it, but my name came first for some reason.
As far as to explain why a sannyasi would take on such a task, I can give several answers, both philosophical and practical.
The following purport by His Divine Grace A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada covers everything.
In the glorious days, or before the advent of the age of Kali, the brahmanas, the cows, the women, the children and the old men were properly
given protection.
1. The protection of the brahmanas maintains the institution of varna and asrama, the most scientific culture for attainment of spiritual life.
2. The protection of cows maintains the most miraculous form of food, i.e., milk for maintaining the finer tissues of the brain for understanding higher
aims of life.
3. The protection of women maintains the chastity of society, by which we can get a good generation for peace, tranquility and progress of life.
4. The protection of children gives the human form of life its best chance to prepare the way of liberty from material bondage. Such protection of
children begins from the very day of begetting a child by the purificatory process of garbhadhana-samskara, the beginning of pure life.
5. The protection of the old men gives them a chance to prepare themselves for better life after death.
This complete outlook is based on factors leading to successful humanity as against the civilization of polished cats and dogs. The killing of the
above-mentioned innocent creatures is totally forbidden because even by insulting them one loses one’s duration of life. In the age of Kali they are
not properly protected, and therefore the duration of life of the present generation has shortened considerably. In the Bhagavad-gita it is stated
that when the women become unchaste for want of proper protection, there are unwanted children called varna-sankara. To insult a chaste woman means to
bring about disaster in the duration of life. Duhsasana, a brother of Duryodhana, insulted Draupadi, an ideal chaste lady, and therefore the
miscreants died untimely. These are some of the stringent laws of the Lord mentioned above.
SB 1.8.6
>>> Ref. VedaBase => SB 1.8.6
I cannot see why a sannyasi should not but engaged in these things.
On a practical level, the evidence is that those who abuse women are generally men. So men have to be trained and disciplined. Protecting women
does not mean loosely associating with them, but to train men to treat them properly. I do not believe that such a task should left to the women, or
that a sannyasi should not be involved. Even though kali yuga is advancing rapidly, men still have some respect for a sannyasi. Sannyasis are supposed
to be spiritual masters for everyone, including the ruffians and fools.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you and Hell Yeah! This is a great thing and I hope I can help.