For years, conversations about abuse in Amish and other plain communities began with denial. Survivors, advocates, and researchers were forced to answer the same basic question again and again: is abuse actually happening?

But something has shifted.

In this episode, Jasper shares recordings that began in August of 2023 after a group of current Amish women from Holmes County, Ohio reached out asking for help. They wanted to bring attention to the barriers they were facing while trying to report abuse and seek protection within their communities.

Holmes County sits at the center of Ohio's Amish Country and is home to the largest concentration of Amish residents in the United States, with roughly 40% of the county's population belonging to Amish communities. The region also attracts millions of tourists each year, drawn by the image of a simpler way of life.

But the conversations in this episode reveal a much more complicated reality.

These interviews were originally recorded before the Ruth Miller trial and before the Ivan Miller homicides brought national attention to crime within Amish communities. Since then, the public conversation has shifted. The question is no longer whether abuse exists.

Now the question is why it continues.

Through these recordings, listeners follow Jasper's own evolving understanding as the investigation moves beyond documenting abuse to exploring the systems, structures, and cultural dynamics that allow it to persist.

This episode of The Plain People's Podcast explores abuse, advocacy, and accountability within Amish and other plain communities, with a focus on Holmes County, Ohio, home to the largest Amish population in the United States. The discussion touches on topics including Amish culture, barriers to reporting abuse, religious communities and crime, Amish women seeking help, and the systems that allow abuse to persist in insular communities.

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For additional research, writing, and ongoing reporting related to this work:

The Plain People's Project (Substack) https://plainpeoplesproject.substack.com

Website https://www.plainpeoplespodcast.com