Royal Commission into Child Abuse - Australia

by biometrics 29 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

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  biometrics

  Saw this in the paper today:

  
  

  The Jehovah's Witnesses Church in Australia is the latest religious group to come to the attention of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

  The child sex abuse royal commission will hold a public hearing into controversial Christian group the Jehovah's Witnesses, next month.

  The inquiry, to be held in Sydney, will hear from people who were allegedly sexually abused within the Jehovah's Witnesses Church in Australia.

  It will examine how the Jehovah's Witnesses Church and its company, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia, responded to claims of child sexual abuse within the organisation.

  A Victorian inquiry into how churches handle child sex abuse claims has previously taken submissions from former Jehovah's Witnesses who alleged instances of paedophilia, sexual assault, blackmail and death threats.

  The organisation has 64,000 active "disciples" in Australia but has also been described as a cult.

  Jehovah's Witnesses believe their church is the one true religion and all others are wrong. They are among a number of religious groups which have been examined by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse including the Catholics, Anglicans, Australian Christian Churches and the Salvation Army.

  The Jehovah's Witnesses Australian headquarters has been contacted for comment about the inquiry which is scheduled to begin on July 27.

  http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nsw/jehovahs-witnesses-to-appear-before-sex-abuse-royal-commission-20150622-ghue73.html
  
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  jwleaks

  MEDIA RELEASE - CHILD ABUSE ROYAL COMMISSION

  Official Media Release: Public Hearing into Jehovah's Witnesses
  

  Public hearing into the Jehovah’s Witnesses

  22 June, 2015

  The Royal Commission will hold a public hearing in Sydney commencing on 27 July 2015 at 10:00am.

  The scope and purpose of the public hearing is to inquire into:

  1. The experience of survivors of child sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church in Australia.

  2. The responses of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to allegations, reports or complaints of child sexual abuse within the Church.

  3. The systems, policies and procedures in place within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd for raising and responding to allegations of or concerns about child sexual abuse within the Church.

  4. The systems, policies and procedures in place within the Jehovah’s Witnesses Church and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to prevent child sexual abuse within the Church.

  5. Any related matters.
  
  Any person or institution who believes that they have a direct and substantial interest in the scope and purpose of the public hearing is invited to lodge a written application for leave to appear at the public hearing by 10 July 2015.

  Applications for leave to appear should be made using the form available on the Royal Commission website.

  The form and the submission should be lodged with the Royal Commission via: Email:[email protected]; or Mail: GPO Box 5283, Sydney NSW 2001.

  The public hearing will be streamed live to the public via webcast on the Royal Commission’s website.

  
  
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  zeb

  "The public hearing will be streamed live to the public via webcast on the Royal Commission’s website."

  Step up to the mark those who have this dreadful experience. Do not ask those who are 'in' whether you should or not.

  Courage!
• 

  punkofnice

  I hope Aus is next in the fight against watchtower(tm) institutionalised paedophilia. I want to see the WBT$ under attack from all the countries one by one...like dominoes falling.

  Crush the WBT$!
• 

  Splash

  I can't imagine trying to defend a policy where an abused minor has to relive the intimate details in front of three old men, then being told they are in the wrong because there was not another witness to the abuse, and if they say anything they will be in huge trouble.

  Oh, and by the way, the man being accused has a history of abuse but no-one was allowed to share that information so people could protect themselves.

  For an organisation that takes pride in how it looks to everyone else, denies there's a problem and denies they practise shunning, this public stream will knock down many of their walls.
• 

  Marvin Shilmer

  Imagine that. A PUBLIC HEARING!!!

  What a breath of fresh air, and something the Watchtower organization does not see fit to practice of its own accord.

  No. Watchtower wants all its "hearings" to be of the secret star-chamber variety where there are no neutral witnesses to what goes on there and the subject has no opportunity to have at least ONE observer for sake of inspiring carefulness and justice! This, DESPITE Watchtower decrying it when governmental organizations likewise fail to have public hearings.

  See: Watchtower’s Judicial System

  Watchtower prides itself in supposedly building an internal judicial system reminecent of the ancient Jewish practice of having local elders decide matters of justice. Hey Watchtower! Get THIS: Under that Jewish system elders heard cased PUBLICLY at the city gates, and meted out their decisions there too, in FULL PUBLIC VIEW.
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  OzGirl

  Have been following the Royal Commission with interest, for some time now.

  Wondered when they would get around to the Watchtower Society.
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  Vidiot

  "The public hearing will be streamed live to the public via webcast on the Royal Commission’s website."

  Nice.

  I can just imagine the degree of cognitive dissonance any loyalist rank-and-filer who watches this is gonna feel.
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  punkofnice

  Vidiot4 minutes ago"The public hearing will be streamed live to the public via webcast on the Royal Commission’s website."
  Nice.
  I can just imagine the degree of cognitive dissonance any loyalist rank-and-filer who watches this is gonna feel.

  thier 'loyalty shields' will go up and they'll find every reason to find the WBT$ innocent.

  Such is the mind control of those abusive perverts AKA governing body and suck ups.

  I wonder how whipped up the JWs will become that this is a start of the great tribulation(tm)? Dozy pillocks!
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  umbertoecho

  We have our last Prime Minister Julia Gillard to thank for this inquest. She worked against some real odds during her time in parliament, but she often prevailed. Nick Xenophon is also a good political ally in this matter. Many other people, not publically known, have also been working so hard to bring this situation to the fore.........

  There was a huge sense of......at last!....when she announced this inquest. Steven Unthank was so courageous in pursuit of justice for his family too. This announcement couldn't come at a better time. Personally, I feel as though it's Christmas, even though I have never celebrated such a thing!!!!!!!!

  Yes!!!