JW Survivors is a victim advocacy group for survivors of the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses within Australia.
JW Survivors is a volunteer not-for-profit community based victim advocacy group for survivors of the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses within Australia. The group was founded by Steven Unthank. The seeds of JW Survivors were planted by current and former members of the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses, and their families, in response to the Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Abuse by Religious and other Organisations, and an extensive submission made in relation to the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses and their administrative controlling corporation, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia.
JW Survivors' aim and objectives are:
§ To act as a peak body to represent survivors of sexual abuse, child abuse, religious vilification, and religious bullying from within the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses.
§ To advocate for, and on behalf of, victims of crime committed within the religious setting of the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses.
§ To defend the religious freedoms and human rights of former members of the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses.
§ To force the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses to adopt and implement a formal Child Protection Policy; a Child Safety Policy; a Privacy Policy; and a Working with Children Protocol.
§ To continue to fight for the reinstating of the criminal charges brought against the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses and the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses in 2011, over criminal breaches of the Victorian Working with Children Act 2005.
§ To facilitate in bringing together the elements needed to launch a class action lawsuit on behalf of the 6,160 victims of criminal child abuse committed within the Church of Jehovah's Witnesses, in the State of Victoria, directly in relation to criminal breaches of the Working with Children Act 2005 and committed by the church between July 2008 and December 2011.
§ To be a voice for the silenced.
LATEST NEWS: SUBMISSION TO CHILD ABUSE ROYAL COMMISSION
November 26, 2012
JW Survivors lodged today a submission, written and prepared by Steven Unthank, in reply to the Australian government’s request for stakeholder consultation for the establishing of the “Terms of Reference” for the Child Abuse Royal Commission.
Among the 9 recommendations made to the Royal Commission by JW Survivors was that “the Royal Commission investigate religious and other organisations in relation to their response to working with children laws as legislated in various jurisdictions across Australia.” The submission explained that “working with children laws and child safety legislation are the frontline of physical and sexual protection for children within the community”, and that “a failure, or refusal to comply with working with children laws, by an organisation, religious or otherwise, may be an indicator of the systemic failure of such an organisation to view the physical and sexual safety of children with whom they work with as a priority.” The submission also cited the Church of Jehovah’s Witnesses as an example of one religious organisation engaging in the “wholesale” criminal breaching of working with children laws.
On 12 November 2012, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced that she will be recommending to the Governor-General the establishment of a Royal Commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse in Australia. Following this government requested the input of stakeholder organisations in making recommendations for the ‘Terms of Reference’ for the Child Abuse Royal Commission. JW Survivors was one of those organisations who made a submission.
A copy of the 11 page submision by JW Survivors can be downloaded from their web site:
