According to former Amish woman and feminist activist Torah Bontrager, Amish women and girls are uniquely vulnerable to sexual abuse. She says she was raped by family members when she was a girl and that her tragic situation, like the one you’re writing about, is ordinary.
She says Amish women and girls are at high risk of sex abuse because Amish children are kept uneducated as a matter of “religious liberty,” and lack English language and other skills that would allow them to reach out for help. Because they’re denied education past the age of 14, they don’t have ordinary resources like teachers and guidance counselors to turn to when family abuse them.
Instead, they remain isolated in insular communities without the education that would allow to advocate for themselves or achieve independence.
