@Nitty-Gritty:
(I apologize if this post is off-topic - I want to address the comment you made about the WTS' advice given to parents)
What I find odd, is that rarely do these articles address the obvious first line of defense: the dynamics between a (good) parent and a child, (mutual trust and open communication) and the education of the child as to “bad touch” “good touch” (even from parents), etc. In my opinion the various Awake articles and other WT publications have produced excellent advice as to this first line of defense. Just my observation…..
"Excellent advice?" I think the Watchtower 'advice' avoids the elephant in the room. What happens when the abuser is the parent, which is often the case in closed communities that practice extreme sexual prohibitions?
Here are some observations (taken from personal stories on the Silent Lambs website) to add to your 'observation', Nitty-Gritty.
I was sexually abused by my father who was a witness from the time I was a toddler up until I was about 9 or 10 years old.
And then, when I was about eight years old, my father started coming into our room, the kids’ room, late at night after he’d got home from work and my mother was sleeping with the TV on. ...
My dad took me into the shower with him when I was only eight or nine years old and he made me do crazy things.And I was held down and raped by my father, the man of God, the head of the family who was supposed to protect me and love me and be good to me, on several occasions. It was a nightmare.
I found out that my father, the service overseer, had molested my sister (half-sister) many years ago.
my poor older sister was subject to sexual abuse from my father
I, like so many others was abused by my step-father (who was also an elder in our congregation).I was sexually abused by my father when I was young. .. My father has since become a well-respected Elder who is often featured at the District Convention and directs the featured Drama.
My mother, who was an extreme alcoholic, sexually abused at least one of my brothers, and beat them severely... My mother, who is now 84, is still a witness. She was spoken to once about sexual abuse and she categorically denied it
As a child my father was a pervert. He never actually touched me but he exposed himself to me and my physical sisters on a regular basis as well as talked and behaved in a sexually perverted way around us.
I also found out that another uncle's wife was abused from the time she was about 6 until she was engaged by her father, an elder.
When I was a child I was molested by several family members who are Jehovah's Witnesses (My uncle, brother, and father.)
My abuse memories start around 3 when my father came home one night drunk.
on many Sundays after going to the "meetings" my stepfather would molest me that very same day telling me this was to show my Love to not only my father...but the Heavenly father (Jehovah).....
I was molested by my stepfather at age 11,
When I finally got the strength to go to the elders they called me and my sisters liars. You see my dad was loved deeply and no one wanted to accept what we were saying about such a great man.My daughter was molested by her baptized stepfather when she was eight.
I was not molested by an elder or any member from the congregation, but I was molested by my step father who is a Jehovah Witness.
I had a good friend who was repeatedly molested by her father (an elder) and her brother.
My father was the congregation overseer in 1959 when I was violently raped by him and my grandfather.
I was in the "organization" for 31 years and was molested by 2 different elders (one was my father).
I was abused by my "servant" father when I was a teenager.
... a highly respected elder in our Kingdom Hall was involved in sexually molesting several young girls, including his own daughter.
The 'excellent advice' given by the Watchtower Society is not as 'excellent' as you may believe - in fact, it may very well create yet another situation for abusive parents to further abuse children.