I was jolted into confronting ISKCON’s shortcomings in 1996. A dozen former gurukula students told their histories of being abused as children to seventy-five leaders at the annual North American meeting in Alachua. The vivid details of beatings, abandonment, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse were heartbreaking. Grown men and women were crying. Some fell to the ground, begging forgiveness from the youth for not being aware of the abuse and not doing more to prevent it. We were stunned. Abuse “wasn’t supposed to happen here.” Not in the Hare Krishna movement. Abuse happens elsewhere, we thought. In other religions. In other communities.

The Child Protection Office has an excellent service that you can engage in whether you live in, near, or far from a temple community. This much-needed Seva is one that you can do on your own or with others, such as your family or a reading group. Together we will compile a repository of all quotes and references from the teachings of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada related to the protection of children. The quotes may directly reference children or the duty to protect others. Reference may be contextual such as the pastime of Lord Nrsimhadeva - the original child protector, or Putana who appeared to be a trustworthy person but had ill intentions to harm the child. You may also include references about Vaisnava aparadha. Here’s how you can help with this easy and inspiring service: 1. Choose one of Srila Prabhupada’s books that you commit to reading for references. It can be a chapter, a canto, or the whole book. 2. Sign up for your chosen book/section, by either: * Commenting or private messaging Pages for Protection; * Commenting on the line that corresponds to your chosen reading on this spreadsheet https://tinyurl.com/mr25crjt; * Emailing - PagesForProtection@gmail.com. 3. When you have found something relevant, submit excerpts from your chosen book/section, by either: Emailing - PagesForProtection@gmail.com or Private messaging Pages for Protection The results of this project will help devotees understand the value of protecting children in Krishna conscious culture. This repository of references will support discussions on the subject matter and guide future decisions. Having easy-to-access selections will enable devotees to speak confidently on the topic of child protection. Our goal is to have references from Srila Prabhupada’s books collected by the end of 2022. So go ahead, pick a selection and let us know what you find.

Here you will see everything you need to know about Sri Mayapur International School in one video. Set in ISKCON's International headquarters in West Bengal, India, the city of Sri Dham Mayapur is rapidly developing according to Srila Prabhupada's vision. Today it is a diverse spiritual community; one with growing needs for families including quality education. 

Over the past week, more than a million Ukrainian refugees crossed the borders to the neighboring countries, fleeing war. Most of them are women and children, like their husbands, fathers, and sons, —all men between the ages of 18-60 — had to stay back to defend their country, not knowing if they would ever see their loved ones again.