(NewsNation) — Most Americans’ image of the Amish is that of simple farmers, shutting out modern technology and outside influences.

However, a new docuseries indicates a darker side to Amish life. There are accusations of rampant abuse, which the accusers say they were never able to talk about.

“Sins of the Amish,” airing on Peacock, features several women speaking out against what they say is a centurieslong tradition of abuse, oppression and cover-ups that reaches the highest levels of the church.

Audrey Kauffman, who’s featured in the docuseries, was married to the son of a bishop and says abuse was very common, even at the highest levels.

“In a patriarchal culture, women and children have no power. So it’s very easy for them (the leaders) to cover up and to hide the things that are happening,” Kauffman said during an appearance Wednesday night on NewsNation’s “Banfield.”

Kauffman said she was taught that everyone on the outside was a dangerous threat to her children.

Misty Griffin, a former member of the Amish community and producer of the docuseries, said that the Amish believe they’re “not citizens of the world,” but instead that they’re “citizens of heaven.”

Griffin is also the author of “Tears of the Silenced: A true crime and an American tragedy; severe child abuse and leaving the Amish.”

She says that when she fially left the Amish, it felt like being teleported from the 1600s to 2005.

It wasn’t until a non-Amish person living near Griffin helped her escape, she said, that she realized her life was in danger.

“The Amish are a cult,” Griffin said on “Banfield.”

“The only way that you can bring resources into this community is by passing legislation,” Griffin added.

She started a petition, #Invisible, on her website, mistygriffin.com.