Problems that exist with the Australian Redress Scheme for Victims of Child Sexual Abuse.As it stands now.

by smiddy3 9 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse

• 

  smiddy3

  I was listening to an overnight ABC radio broadcast with Rod Quin ?in the early hours of the morning 14/3/19. And with him was a guest of the labour Party of Newcastle NSW ,sorry her name escapes me.

  And some issues were raised that I never knew of, that survivors might have .Hopefully I can articulate them here as I understand it. and remember it ....We all know the trauma that a child will go through with being abused and some will go off the rails because of that and commit some crimes of their own maybe in their teen years .

  Anybody who has committed a crime and spent time in jail can not take part in the redress scheme. ?

  A victim who called in was disgusted with the whole process of the Redress Scheme and said he would not be a part of it.His reason was that the forms you had to fill in going over once again with what you went through and then that was to be presented to the very organization that was responsible for his abuse was just too much to take.

  Also a person who has already given testimony at the ARC would have to go through this process again ? Why not just use his or her testimony that was given at the ARC ?

  Another problem was ,Why does an organization that`s under investigation and has a history of abuse have to sign up to the Redress Scheme anyway ?

  It has now been about 5 years since this inquiry was started and at the end of the ARC they were given 2 years to sign up about one year has already passed and their is still about 100 institutions that have not yet signed up to the redress Scheme.

  Why are they dragging their feet ? They have had more than enough time to get there house in order and to comply with the ARC recommendations.

  Which brings me to another point : Not all of the ARC recommendations have been adopted some were deviated from and watered down.

  And lastly what I want to bring up is that there is no big stick to make any organization sign up at all to the National redress Scheme if they so choose not to do so .They cannot be forced to or made to sign up as it stands at present .

  They can only be named and shamed or put under a moral / ethical pressure to sign up .

  good luck with that one .

  There is one other important point that I just can`t bring to mind right now, Oh if somebody has already gone through a court case and received a settlement and has had a gag order placed on them they cannot challenge the organization again even if what they received was well below what they could receive in compensation under the redress scheme

  If anybody else can shed light on this feel free to do so

  smiddy
• 

  zeb

  This some thing I feared could happen and it seems it has.

  I too have seen the initial paperwork a person has to fill in and it is as you say.I have written to the Prime Minister re the wt failure to sign up and his reply was along the line we will "continue to engage" with them blah blah blah.

  To me a great value of the CARC is that it is we can look it up and pass it onto jw friends/relatives and have them begin to inch out of the stinking wts.having seen the actual footage.
  

  That anyone who has "done time" is disallowed is appalling as so many as you say have gone off the rails as a direct result of there abuse they need help and recognition not further denial of justice.
  

  I suspect that sympathizers have white anted the system of the NRS. The saddest part of the ministers reply was, "If the the Jehovahs Witnesses do not join the scheme, people who have experienced child sexual abuse within this institution ..MAY STILL BE ABLE TO PURSUE CIVIL LITIGATION."..
  

  Oh really? hire a lawyer which is a lucky dip to what sort you will get the wt will go to court and do the usual blather, blah blah you will be done for thousands in your lawyers fees live through the appalling horrors of abuse again and to leave with zilch.

  At the outset the NRS was supposed to make any claim simpler. easier and without the situation it has now become.

  I have family who are paying for their psych counseling and this out of a meager family budget with fuck all help from anyone.

  The termites are busy in the media as well with no major tv documentary "4 Corners" eg showing any interest in this dark corner of the abuse.
  

  • And all consider this, the wt has shown no remorse for any of its urzatz legal committees or the terrible distress they have caused and
  • they show no sign, no tiny sign at all that they are intending to accept any changes in their procedures so this means that there WILL BE coming more victims in the future..

  The only thing the wts fears is to be financially stung and stung hard..

  I have told the minister they are very likely to be shoveling money off shore and pretending they have none. No reply.

  This is a bitter blow for me and no doubt scores of others.

  • Fade walk away, leave have an enjoyable life as best you can.
  • Do college, stand tall, if you were abused it was not your fault.
    
  • Give not a cent to this damned sect
  • and love to bits any family members who has been so abused.
  • Perhaps author a detailed account of their abuse and send it on to the Prime Minister Scott Morrison as people who are waiting for justice to happen.

  Until there is an American equivalent of the CARC gets going and the world media swings its focus on Australian CARC and the Liberal party government here and that includes all other political parties have to declare what they have done then the NRS will I fear stay bogged, certainly I have seen no headline/press release to indicate other.

  Sorry folks i tried, the torch is there if anyone wishes to pick it up.
  
• 

  zeb

  Any lawyers out there who would like to comment? Feel free.
  
• 

  Biahi

  Smiddy3, I accidentally disliked your post, sorry, my finger slipped.
• 

  Vidiot

  "Problems that exist with the Australian Redress Scheme..."

  Here's another one: it's not mandatory across the board.
• 

  john.prestor

  Pick a figure per victim, give the organization six months to respond, and when they inevitably don't pay out, liquidate the organization's Australian assets to that amount and distribute it between the victims. These people don't care about kids and they've made that abundantly clear. Fuck the Governing Body and fuck their empty words about 'abhoring child abuse.' You know a tree by its fruit.
• 

  zeb

  JP. Exactly...
  
• 

  smiddy3

  The Australian Royal Commission and the Police & the Law recognize that Child Sexual Abuse is a crime and not just a sin in Gods sight .

  So why aren`t those Priests ,Pastors ,Elders ,Deacons ,or any other person in authority in a secular institution not charged in some way for not reporting this abuse to the appopriate authority when it has been brought to their attention ,in other words they have been complicit in concealing this crime against minors that has been brought to there attention ?
• 

  JC323

  I do actually wonder how many Watchtower would be on the hook for under the Scheme. I was reading the rules on the schemes' public website. It seems to indicate that it had to be a non-family member and during an official institutional activity, on institution property or from an institutional leader. Just going through the numbers in Case 29 I really don't think it would be many.
• 

  smiddy3

  One other thing that I recall about the Redress Scheme and the ARC into Institutionalized Child sexual Abuse was that because of so many institutions that were involved and so many people were interviewed the ARC estimated there could be as many as 60 thousand people who may take advantage of the scheme ,however as of late February their were less than 3 thousand who had taken up the option to take advantage of the redress scheme.

  So the question remains is it because of the problems listed in the above post and/or are their other problems also that exist that puts victims off applying to this scheme.