Jessa Duggar Seewald and sister Jill Duggar Dillard will both appear in an upcoming TLC sex abuse special called Breaking the Silence. The network cancelled the Duggar family’s reality show, 19 Kids and Counting after the media frenzy that followed word of Josh Duggar’s sexual molestation scandal. Jessa Duggar Seewald and Jill Duggar Dillard–two admitted victims of Josh Duggar–agreed to appear in the documentary.
TLC will air Breaking the Silence on Sunday, August 30. It will run for one hour and will be commercial free.
“The one-hour documentary is built around the personal and emotional stories of brave survivors who have found the courage to come forward,” the network said in a statement.
TLC President Marjorie Kaplan added that “the goal is to take what has been a difficult and painful experience, and focus that attention on the really critical issue of child protection and child sexual abuse.”
#TLC's sexual abuse doc 'Breaking the Silence,' featuring Jill & Jessa Duggar, gets air date: http://t.co/8asHNEmsgD pic.twitter.com/Ac4oR40iO7
— Yahoo TV (@YahooTV) August 15, 2015
Jessa Duggar Seewald and Jill Duggar Dillard are two of five of brother Josh Duggar’s victims. Two other Duggar sisters–purportedly Jana Duggar and Jinger Duggar–were molested, too, as was one non-relative.
Jill and Jessa Duggar talked about their situation during a Fox interview with Megyn Kelly. They said during that interview that they only knew about Josh’s sexual molestations (inappropriate touching over clothing) because their parents explained what happened after Josh admitted to the fondling. Both girls were reportedly asleep when the molestations took place.
“My dad explained to us, he said, ‘You know there’s a difference between forgiveness and trust. That’s not the same thing,'” Jill Duggar Dillard told Megyn Kelly. “You know, you forgive someone and then you have boundaries. Forgiveness with boundaries. Trust comes later. Josh destroyed that trust at the beginning, and so he had to rebuild that. I think when he came back, that was… the point of rebuilding.”
Jill & Jessa #Duggar are "breaking the silence" as @TLC's child sexual abuse doc gets air date http://t.co/SXxid21fDI pic.twitter.com/Dz90Ekxu4n
— ET Canada (@ETCanada) August 14, 2015
Parents Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have come under much fire for the way they handled the situation. Josh reportedly never received clinical counseling.
The Duggar family is said to be renting a home and haven’t returned to their large Arkansas abode since word of the scandal hit the media. They were saddened at the loss of their reality show, but claim they will continue to glorify God in other ways.
Will you be tuning in on August 30 to see Jessa Duggar Seewald and Jill Duggar Dillard on this TLC special about sexual abuse? Do you think their story will change at all since their interview with Megyn Kelly?
