The subject of hiding these abusers, fill me in on these "occasions". Also, doesn't this happen in all types of groups involving humans?
Hiding perverts?
by lfwalli 3 Replies latest watchtower child-abuse
-
-
Sirona
Hi Ifwalli and welcome to the forum.
I presume you are asking for incidents of abuse within JWs where the evidence was hidden or brushed under the carpet?
Have you read up on the subject? try www.silentlambs.org as a starting point. There are quite a few real life stories on there.
Also there have been a couple of TV documentaries which have shown the stories of people who were abused and the JW congregations didn't do anything to report the abuse. The Watchtower has not sued these TV shows, which it would do (IMO) if the stories were false. The Watchtower takes people to court over violation of rights etc. quite often, but on this issue they're pretty much silent. They only try to defend themselves if they are brought to charge over the issue. Why? Because they KNOW that they've been wrong over the abuse issue. They've had to issue statements changing their policy (however, those changes are still not enough and there are no actual apologies - true to their usual form).
It is still the case that JWs follow the "two witnesses" rule when dealing with abuse accusations. That rule prevents the victim being taken seriously if noone was there to witness the abuse. They STILL say that the authorities are to be contacted IF the law requires it in that area of the world (if the law does not require reporting, the elder can simply ignore the abuse???)
Read up. Its not hard, there is so much evidence out there its crazy.
As far as "normal humans" or whatever you said - well this religion is an organised and pretty "closed" group. The children are taught to trust other JW members. Then when there is abuse, its been proven that nothing has been done. This has meant that pedophiles have gone for years and years without being disciplined. THAT is not what happens in normal life - JWism is not "normal life" - it is a closed cult type environment and it is very, very dangerous.
Sirona
-
RubyTuesday
Imagine this:
You are a 4 or 5 year old girl.
Your JW stepfather molest you .
You tell your JW mom on him.
All the elders and more than half the congergation back up this guy...and say what a nice person he is and how he would never do this.
You somehow get a rep for being a pathological lier.
You have to continue to live with the SOB.
Continue to be molested and beat.
Until you are 17 years old.
Plus ...all this time you are isolated from the real world because you are home schooled.
Also, doesn't this happen in all types of groups involving humans?
Nooooo, I truly believe that my niece would have been much more safer and protected if she had told a "worldly person" (a teacher, coach, school counsler anyone but a JW...)But of course she was not allowed into the real world.
-
myauntfanny
Not only do they still follow the two witness rule, but also, the two meet separately with the elders. Then, if the accused denies it, the accuser and the accused must meet face to face before the elders. No sane person could think this was fair to any victim, and certainly not a small child. If makes me furious just thinking about it. The courts have understood that making a victim face his/her abuser is a repetition of the original violation, and allow kids to testify on video. But duh, JWs just sing their happy way through lalaland, because gosh, if there's no witnesses then we'll just assume the kid is lying. There's also the fact, now acknowledged by their lawyers, that elders are just untrained volunteers. It's a slippery legal thing to get out from under the current heat, but the fact is, it's a fact. They have no professional training in how to handle sexual abuse cases, and should not get involved. If someone comes to them, they should give them a phone number of someone who can give them real world advice in their next steps. In some states they are required to report it to the police. Where they're not required, they don't do it.