Lawyers release survey on alleged Jehovah's Witness child abuse

by Tahoe 28 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

  • was a new boy
    was a new boy

    NotFormer

    This "team of lawyers", who commissioned them, what are they called?

    ３．私達の報告書は「事実の適示」「事実の確認調査」に最も重きを置きました。 エホバの証人のステートメントは「起きてきた事実」については一切触れず、指摘されている主眼と関係のない文をただ長々並べているようにしか読めません。 この意味でも「もう会話が成立しない」というイメージです。
    Translated from Japanese by
    3. Our report placed the most emphasis on ``presenting the facts'' and ``investigating the facts.'' The statement of Jehovah's Witnesses does not mention anything about the ``facts that have happened'' and reads like a long list of sentences that are unrelated to the main point being pointed out. In this sense as well, it gives the impression that ``conversation is no longer possible.''

    Translated from Japanese by
    4. In the end, I think that they have no intention of changing or admitting it, and just keep writing out their own theories that don't fit with each other, so I don't deal with them anymore, and just continue to calmly and accurately confront them with the ``hard facts.'' However, I think the best stance is to let them say what they want to say, and then let society decide how to judge this group. In that sense, it's actually good for them to make their opinions public, and at the same time, I think it's important that everyone involved continues to speak out about their true nature and actions.
  • was a new boy
    was a new boy
  • was a new boy
    was a new boy

    Just following theocratic direction.


  • was a new boy
    was a new boy


  • was a new boy
    was a new boy

    Many children of Jehovah’s Witnesses experience abuse, Japan report says

    BY YUKANA INOUE
    STAFF WRITER
    Nov 21, 2023

    'An overwhelming majority of children of Jehovah’s Witnesses have experienced abuse from their parents, according to a report compiled by a lawyers group.

    The report, released Monday, sheds light on the abuse many second-generation Jehovah’s Witnesses have experienced from their parents under rules that were set out by the religion, including forcing the children to refuse blood transfusions regardless of their situation, and corporal punishment.

    In the report compiled by the lawyers group supporting former Jehovah’s Witnesses, 81% of respondents said that they were made to own a “blood transfusion refusal card.” Even if a child is going through serious medical treatment, there have been several cases where parents have refused to let their children receive a blood transfusion, the report said.

    Jehovah’s Witnesses discourage blood transfusions because they believe that they should not sustain life using another creature's blood. The report says that this constitutes abuse because it directly endangers a child’s life.

    The report also showed that over 90% of the respondents had been hit by their parents, or in some cases by religious community leaders, as “punishment” for such things as falling asleep during Jehovah’s Witnesses meetings.

    The survey showed that corporal punishment — commonly carried out with hands, a belt or a ruler — would start very early on in life, in some cases even before the child was 3 years old.

    Another issue highlighted in the report is how Jehovah’s Witnesses shun those who leave the religious group or go against its teachings. In some extreme cases, former followers have been disowned by their parents.

    Developing romantic relationships or friendships is also a struggle for many second-generation Jehovah’s Witnesses, as their parents have often imposed tough restrictions — in many cases the children could only participate in school activities in a limited way.

    The lawyers group submitted the report to the Children and Families Agency on Monday, requesting the government to further investigate the possibility of child abuse within the religious community.

    Upon receiving the report, agency chief Ayuko Kato commented that “child abuse cannot be justified even if there is religious belief behind it.”

    The report compiled survey responses from over 581 former and current members, with these given via the internet in May and June. This followed the government’s release of a guideline late last year that stated that the imposition of a religion may be considered child abuse, prompting many former second-generation Jehovah’s Witnesses to come forward about their experiences.

    “We have not engaged in any form of child abuse and the report is just based on opinions of some people who have negative feelings toward the group,” a representative from the Jehovah’s Witnesses was quoted by NHK as saying about the survey.

    The experience of second-generation religious followers has been under the spotlight in Japan following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year. The man suspected of shooting Abe held a grudge against the Unification Church and believed the former prime minister had connections to it.'

    https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/11/21/japan/society/jehovahs-witnesses-survey-abuse/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1700559975

  • Terry
    Terry

    Fat Chance any active JW will ever lay hands or eyeballs on any of this...ever.
    They live in a parakeet cage with the door open but do not fly out.
    The public zoo here in my city has a "Rain Forest" with exotic birds, dripping water and vegetation but the surround access where patrons stand to watch remains in darkness. Those birds easily could fly out. They don't.
    Ironically, the captive birds shun the darkness of freedom for the safety of imprisonment in the light!

  • InquiryMan
    InquiryMan

    I also think culture has something to go with it. E.g. In Japan corporal punishment was banned only a couple of years ago.

    In Norway it was banned in the mid 80s and JWs had to change their attitude yowards it. All references to corporal punishment in the literature were removed and thus that culture og punishment gradually disappeared due to a combination of law, culture and cease of references.

  • Earnest
    Earnest

    NotFormer : This "team of lawyers", who commissioned them, what are they called?

    Tanaka & Partners, LPC have a corporation website here.

    IN a report today the Mainichi daily newspaper gave an account by a former JW that a "senior member who had assumed the position of 'patrolling inspector' overseeing a regional follower group apparently told the followers repeatedly to 'remove children's underwear when whipping them.'"

    I don't know what a "patrolling inspector" is but presume it refers to a circuit overseer. He sounds like a loose cannon.
  • Earnest
    Earnest
    Deleted.
  • was a new boy
    was a new boy

    Ex-Jehovah’s Witness denied surgery after parents refused

    By AMANE SHIMAZAKI/ Staff Writer

    November 21, 2023 at 17:47 JST


    A 20-year-old man raised as a third-generation Jehovah’s Witness speaks about having to wait eight years for heart surgery due to his parents’ refusal of blood transfusions on Nov. 19. (Amane Shimazaki)

    For eight years until he turned 18, a man raised as a third-generation Jehovah's Witness suffered because he couldn't have heart surgery due to his parents' refusal to allow a blood transfusion.

    At age 10, he was diagnosed with atrial septal defect, a condition characterized by a hole in the heart, for which a doctor recommended surgery.

    During physical education classes at school, he was the only one unable to run among all the students.

    “I want to have the surgery if it will make me feel better,” he thought at the time.

    The man, now 20, cooperated in a lawyers’ survey documenting abuse among the religious group.

    He said when a doctor mentioned that he might need a blood transfusion in the event of an emergency during the surgery, his parents’ expressions changed.

    The Jehovah's Witness faith teaches that God prohibits practices such as transfusions of whole blood as a medical treatment.

    His parents firmly said, “We will not sign the consent form for a blood transfusion.”

    During medical examinations, a follower, called a “medical institution liaison member,” also attended, explaining to the doctor the reasons for refusing blood transfusions, the man said.

    His parents instructed him to state his refusal to have a transfusion.

    He repeatedly practiced his “lines” in front of the hospital’s examination room. He then recited them exactly to the doctor: “I believe in the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses, so I cannot undergo a blood transfusion.”

    When he showed reluctance to adhere to the practice, in a show of defiance, his parents whipped him at home for lacking faith.

    He was confronted with the harsh reality that doctrine was prioritized over the life of a child.

    When he turned 18, the doctor told him that he could undergo surgery based on his own decision. He decided to do so.

    He signed the consent form, along with a nurse who acted as a witness.

    The surgery was successful, and ultimately, no blood transfusion was needed.

    His health improved rapidly after the surgery.

    “If only I could have had the surgery earlier. …,” he lamented, which he has long carried in frustration.

    He cannot forgive his parents, but he felt even more anger toward the Jehovah's Witness faith, he said.

    On Nov. 20, he spoke out during the Diet hearing conducted by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

    “I believe that there are many children who are still suffering due to the teachings of the religious group," the man said. “I would like you to extend a helping hand from the outside.”

    https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15062966

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