WT about child abuse

Gorbatchov

Friends,

There is something realy wrong if you have to tell your church members what to report to who when child abuse happens.

G.

stuckinarut2

Well said Gorby!

If someone knew of a conspiracy to commit MURDER they would go straight to the police - right?

So WHY do JWs have to ask the "elders" or "branch office" what to do when it comes to child abuse??

It is in the same category in my opinion! The murder of those little one's innocence.

smiddy3

The trouble was and maybe still is,is that Child sexual abuse was considered a sin and not a crime in JW land .

Hard to believe that may be ,but it is the truth and does not in any way alleviate the seriousness of the sin of omission committed by Elders who sat on judicial committees dealing with such cases and not reporting it to the appropriate authorities regardless of whether it was a mandated requirement or not.

Ethically and morally they should have reported such abuse to the authorities when it came to their notice.

They failed the victims.

Half banana

Absolutely right Gorby! It just goes to show what irrational demands the governing body make for their flock. It also shows that THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT CHILD WELFARE, above all things they care only for their public reputation.

Jehovah's Witnesses are a sick cult

DesirousOfChange

Part of the problem was (and still is) that only SOME States (Governmental Authorities) mandate that "clergy" report these crimes. In areas where it is NOT mandated by law, the "JW Clergy" were caught between the issues of maintaining confidentiality and reporting a crime.

NOT an apologist. (Read my freaking post history!) But this is a reality. IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH IT, write your government representatives to make sure that reporting abuse is a LAW in your State/Province/Country. Pissing and moaning at places like this will NOT change anything (but make you feel a little better maybe).

Vidiot

smiddy3 - "The trouble was and maybe still is,is that Child sexual abuse was considered a sin and not a crime in JW land."

One problem of many, IMO, but regarding that, it's unsurprising for a religious organization that had its defining and formative years in the 1940s and 50s, when virtually everyone kept that shit on the DL, for fear it would (correctly, IMO) undermine public confidence in the social systems of the time.