The Duggar sisters speak out about child sex abuse.

Jill and Jessa Duggar have spoken out about child sex abuse – about the need to raise greater awareness of it.

The sisters spoke during an hour long documentary called Breaking the Silence. It premiered on TLC on Sunday night and is particularly poignant in the light of the Josh Duggar molestation scandal.

Earlier this year it was revealed that Josh Duggar, the eldest child of the Duggar family from US reality TV hit 19 Kids and Counting, was once investigated for molesting minors.

A 2006 police report obtained by In Touch showed that Josh allegedly assaulted five under-age female victims, who reported he fondled their breasts and genitals.

At the time, Inquisitr reported, “Josh recently confessed to sexually molesting four of his sisters by forcibly fondling their breasts and genitals, usually while they were asleep. He was 14 at the time, and the Duggars had five underage daughters (ages at the time in parentheses): Jana Duggar (12), Jill Duggar (11), Jessa Duggar (10), Jinger Duggar (9), and Joy-Anna Duggar (5).”

During the commercial-free documentary Jill and Jessa didn't address these allegations directly, but did talk about the need to raise greater awareness around sexual abuse among children.

"I feel like this should be a discussion that people are having, even regularly," Jessa said during the screening. "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."

24-year-old Jill also spoke about the need to ensure people had knowledge about the issue, because it was prevalent in many families.

"There are so many people that deal with the exact same thing in their own families, so just being educated is very good," she said.

Michelle Duggar - the mother of the Duggar family - was proud of her daughters for speaking about an important issue. She said she was glad they could support each other while encouraging others to get more information about a very important cause.

22-year-old Jessa is expecting her first baby this year and said she has learned about the need to protect her own child when it comes in to the world.

There was a seminar in the hour long special screening, that included suggestions on what parents and caregivers can do to prevent child sex abuse; learn the facts, talk about it, react responsibly, minimise opportunity and recognise the signs.

The documentary was filmed before news broke that Josh Duggar had signed up to the cheating website, Ashley Madison, and that he has allegedly checked into rehab.

What do you think we can do to create a better conversation about the cause?

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