1 of 3 | The Duggar family of '19 Kids & Counting'. Photo courtesy of TLC.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Jill and Jessa Duggar of 19 Kids & Counting spoke out about child sexual abuse once again in Breaking the Silence, a commercial-free TLC documentary that aired Sunday.
Developed together with leading abuse prevention organizations RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) and Darkness to Light, Breaking the Silence aims to raise awareness on the subject in light of the recent scandals surrounding disgraced brother Josh Duggar that led to TLC canceling 19 Kids & Counting after 10 seasons. Back in May, reports surfaced that the 27-year-old had molested five underage girls including sisters Jill and Jessa Duggar when he was a teenager.
The Duggar sisters did not address the family drama directly during the special, however they did acknowledge the importance of awareness and education.
"I feel like this should be a discussion that people are having, even regularly," Jessa shared in the hour-long documentary. "I think that it shouldn't be a taboo subject and that we should be bringing awareness to child sexual abuse and talking about it."
Jill chimed in, "It was amazing to understand that there are so many people that deal with the exact same thing in their own families, so just being educated is very good."
Mother Michelle Duggar was also featured in the documentary mentioning how proud she was of Jill and Jessa for stepping up and speaking out. "I was so glad that my girls and I were able to do this together," Michelle said. "And that we could just be a support and encouragement to each other to be able to gain more information about this important subject."
On Wednesday, Josh Duggar entered himself into full-time rehab after he admitted to cheating on his wife Anna Duggar in August. Around the same time Jill and Jessa seemingly supported and defended their brother on social media by preaching forgiveness.
