Why did those 'paid off' by the WTS sign a deal to remain silent?

jambon1

Knowing that this silencing of victims is one of the WTS's main weapons of defence, why did the victims agree to remain silent? Is this not selling your soul to the WTS?

It's human nature when the lawyers of the WTS offered them millions in compensations provided they remain silent about their experiences it was difficult for them to refuse. Why turn down the money offered so as not to remain silent?

candidlynuts

was the agreement to remain silent about the abuse or simply to remain silent about the amount of the settlement?

there's a big difference in the two.

Scully

Keeping the amount of the settlement confidential is one thing and I personally have no problem with that.

Court documents eventually become part of the public domain though, so it would be impossible for the plaintiffs to agree to keep the particulars of the court case itself confidential.

flipper

The victims of these molestations have been put through enough emotional turmoil through the whole process. If they had gone to court with it, who knows how long it would have dragged out in the courts, thus producing even more months, maybe years of agony to these poor victims. Just think of how long the Catholic molestation lawsuits dragged on. I think it was between 5 to 10 years on some of the suits. Would you want to have your molestation constantly thrown in your face for upwards of however many years? Now , maybe you can understand why they settled

FairMind

By settling the plaintiffs at least got something. If this matter had gone to court it could have drug out for a longtime and think about the turmoil they avoided by not being subjected to the appeal process.

brinjen

You can't blame someone for taking the money when the alternative is re-counting your horror over and over again in a court room, getting picked apart by the WTS lawyers. I couldn't do it...

Not to forget too, didn't they get a very important precedent set in that the WTS must accept responsibility for how their Elders respond to allegations raised in their congregations? They've helped so many others just there alone...

changeling

For many it may have been privacy issues. If any of the victims are still children, I can see the parents not wanting to hurt them any further by going public.Some may even have loyalty issues with the WT and may not want to "bring reproch on Jehovah and the org".

OnTheWayOut

It's just a JWD question you ask, so that's okay, but we should never decide what
others should have done in such situations. If it were truly "silence" you have a
good point, but really it is just refraining from commenting to media and writing stories
about it, stuff like that- and refusing to disclose amounts.

They can still seek counseling and feel some sense of victory for their settlement
rather than remaining victims without an end in sight.

Lady Lee

It costs money to sue the WTS or the elders. Few people have the monetary resources to go up against the multi-million dollar WTS who can endlessly delay court appearances.

A non-sexual abuse example is Quotes who had a choice to take the website down or continue to fight his way intp bankruptcy.

For many people who were sexually abused it becomes next to impossible to get closure when there is an impending court date. They need to move on. But taking the settlement is in a way what they need. For the WTS to offer the settlements is a statement that something wrong did happen. For many victims/survivors that is what they needed to hear.

And in the face of bankruptcy it would be really hard to go forward with a courtcase that could be dragged on for years