by Scott77 24 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
That's the approximate headline from Steve Unthank's website at www.jwnews.org. Assuming those numberous victims of sexual abuse prevail in the court and ultimately, get awarded substantial amount of compasation, what do you think will happen to the Watchtower we know it today?
Scott77
I wouldn't get too excited about the Unthank lawsuit. Are there victims of sexual abuse involved in this lawsuit? You mentioned that, but as far as I know, this is basically about a bunch of JWs not getting background checks before working with children, which is required by Australian law.
Unless the victims call in the Police in Victoria then there is no chance of getting anything.
and given the wts policy and practice in dealing with actual cases of sexual child abuse it is remote that any parent will go to the police. But the failure of the Traralgon elders (in a panic) to get their members to apply for a working with Children clearance as required by Victoria law will be something to bring out.
(a) the JW all believe they are above the law and so dont need any 'clearances'
(b) the T congregation removed the sign board at the front of their hall as it had the word 'ministry school' on it. It later went back.
(C) the elders denied they ran a school (panic again)
(d) finally the wts in Sydney being head office suggested that if anyone felt they needed a clearance they should get one. So this is a back down.
Could this refusal to seek a Working with Children Clearance via the Police in Victoria be more about keeping individuals un-exposed?
I fear the wts slithering out of this one.
| "...Are there victims of sexual abuse involved in this lawsuit?..." | |
| Chaserious |
I think, you might like to click on this link and read it.
http://jwnews.org/2013/02/01/billion-dollar-jehovahs-witnesses-class-action-over-child-abuse/ I do not know about this class-action law suit has the full backing of the victims or not. Iam not qualified to comment on that. Any media publicity this case may bring the public will go alongway to demaging the public image of this cult organisation. In one of unrelated court document, this group claimed that "Jehovah's Witnesses have a reputation worldwide in over 235 lands as being well dressed and groomed, and of being peaceful, law-abiding citizens, and that they are well known for their public ministry" That is why there is a possibility of have its image dented.
Scott77
zeb:
Is the same requirement about clearance and working w/ chilrdren required in NSW or is this a VIC thing only ?
I was in Brisbane a little over a week ago and noticed a lot of anti child molestation posters in the airport and train stations. Seems like they are pretty serious about wanting people to report offenders. Maybe there is a climate of zero tolerance brewing on this subject that will not bode well for the WT Society if there are in fact charges against them.
Scott - I read the article, and I believe that Unthank is using the term "victim" rather loosely. As I understand the lawsuit (and if others are more familiar, please correct me if I am mistaken), in Australia there is a law that requires people who work with children to get some type of background check. It would apply to people like teachers and those working in medical clinics where they see children. Unthank is charging that adult JWs who were involved in JW activities with children were required to get the background check. So if an adult JW went door-to-door, or cleaned the Kingdom Hall or even taught the Ministry School (it is called a "school" after all) in a group that included children, it is a violation. He also counted each violation separately, so if an adult JW went in field service 20 times with a child JW, he is counting that as 20 violations and calling for 20 fines to be levied. That is how he comes up with the $3 Billion figure.
This is not to say that there are no cases of JW child sexual abuse in Australia, but personally I would save the term "victim" for someone who was actually physically or sexually abused. When he says there were 6,160 victims, I believe the 6,160 is the number of every JW child in Victoria, so "victim" just means children JWs who did regular JW activities with adult JWs who didn't have the background check. Also, the government prosecutors have said they don't think the JWs are guilty, but Unthank can still bring the case privately, so that's what he's doing. So, that's why I originally said not to get hopes up about this. This is not to criticize Unthank. Getting the background checks is a good step toward preventing child abuse. But I suspect that awareness is about all that is going to come out of this lawsuit.
| "I was in Brisbane a little over a week ago and noticed a lot of anti child molestation posters in the airport and train stations. Seems like they are pretty serious about wanting people to report offenders.." | |
| exwhyzee |
The best you could have done is to take a picture of those posters and post them here in jwn. I think, that would have been helpful and apppreciated.
Scott77
scott 77.... I' m surprised at myself for not having done that ! Especially since I even pointed them out to Mrs XYZ.
Keeping vigil
