by cyberguy 10 Replies latest jw friends
How many of you called "911" (in the United States, "911" is the emergency telephone number to the police) to report some kind of abuse (as defined by law) by a JW?
Usually most JW?s report a serious matter to the elders, as encouraged by the Watchtower! But how many of you actually figured-out you needed to report a serious matter to the police?
I never had to, but I would have in a heartbeat. When safety is involved, the elders can go stuff themselves.
I reported abuse to the police and child protection.
Old Crow
I have reported abuse to the authorities. But then I was a "sister" with few privileges to take away not that it would have mattered.
Blondie
I was 8, and I told my parents about my friend being abused.
closer
Well, I was an idiot, so when there was once a dangerous situation with a roommate and her JW BF, I went repeatedly to the elders. Naturally they didn't do a thing.Then I wised up and went and talked with a cop neighbor. After that, everytime the nasty drug-dealing, violent, gun-toting JW boyfriend showed up in his little car, the cop neighbor would get in his squad car and pull down the street and park right behind him.
Worked like a charm. He stopped coming around after about two weeks. Thanks law-enforcement! Phhbtt elders!
Odrade
An exJW friend of mine in the San Francisco area is handicapped and in a wheelchair. One Saturday afternoon, he heard his doorbell ring. Before he could get himself into his wheelchair, he heard the door open. When he made it to the front door, he found two Jehovah's Witnesses standing inside his apartment! He didn't know them. They were out in field service, tried his front door, found it unlocked, and casually walked inside. Moments after he told them to leave, he called me and asked me what to do. I told him to call 911 and tell the police he had been trespassed. He did, the police came, and although they did not charge the "sisters" with any crime, they were given a good tongue lashing by the investigating officer. That was over two years ago, and my friend has not had a JW at his door since.
For children I've called the Youth Protection Agency as well as the social worker in the school. End result, within 24 hours the kids were taken away - I had custody of one of them for three weeks until permanent arrangements were made. I didn't bother telling the elders who had made the call.
This doesn't exactly fit, but I called 911 a few years ago on my son. I was active then and first approached the elders about the problems I was having. My son was hitting me and even threatened to kill me. He was told by them to say he was sorry to me after he does it. Nothing was said about it being inappropriate or disrespectful for him to hit his mother. So it was only made worse. It is ok as long as you say you are sorry. The abuse continued and I had to call 911.
We were still JW's and our 17 year old son was so rebellious we were just having fits with him. Finally he ran away and went to live with my disfellowshipped brother, who welcomed him with open arms.
We were so angry we called the police to get him back home. They came but convinced us to let him stay where he was, because they could bring him home and he would be out the back door in a flash. Better for him to be with someone who would care for him, and who loves him. My brother was a very liberal parent but had him in school immediately, and took pretty good care of him for about a year. He wouldn't let the elders near him, so they disfellowshipped him anyway. Eventually he came home to straighten out. He got reinstated after awhile, was df'd again a couple of years later, reinstated a few years after that, and never went to another meeting again. He is 37 now and just doing great. He survived.
