Hello :o)
I posted this in response to another thread which stated that the first thing that the poster, as an elder, would have done in the Erica Rodriguez case would have been to have hugged her. It would be an ill-advised male elder who would hug the female victim of a male paedophile.
*There are many possible ramifications resulting from child abuse - the untrained should *concernedly* point the victims in the direction of the *experts* imo. This would be how I would interpret the Biblical injunctions.
I understand you wishing to give comfort to the victim by giving a hug. Unfortunately, in the society in which we find ourselves, and in the situation which you describe, this is not necessarily the most compassionate nor practical beginning.
If the child was accompanied by a parent whom he/she trusted, I would suggest that this would be the right person to hug them at this point. I would be shedding tears of grief and compassion for the victim ......
In this day and age and with the knowledge that we now possess, a process which requires a victim, especially a female victim, of a male abuser - and more especially a small child - to answer the questions of untrained and unqualified adult males - I consider totally insensitive, extremely foolish and inordinately crass.*
I am wondering if there is anyone in any authority in the WTBTS who has any idea of the further pyschological damage and trauma which would be caused for the victim, particularly a small child, by being asked probing and intimate questions by a group of untrained male elders about criminal activities performed by another adult on that little person?
Part of the gathering of information about paedophile activity from a small victim involves a *trusted* individual with whom the child *interacts* in a *non-threatening* environment through play using dolls or puppets, often being observed and recorded by qualified people via a 2 way mirror. The child is treated with kid gloves and would be unaware of the information gleaning process which might take place over an extended period of time.
Is this facility and degree of expertise available within the WTBTS or any other organisation which attempts to deal with child abuse *in house*?
If it is not, then those who have set the policies, those responsible for authorising the policies, those who have not changed the policies in view of current knowledge and expertise, those who have not heeded others who have pointed out problems and failures within the policies, those who are involved in implementing the policies, those who are involved in overseeing adherence to the policicies, those responsible for monitoring the policies, those who do not question the advisability of the policies are all guilty of failure to discharge their congregational responsibility to protect the children as set out in WTBTS literature.
Paedophilia is not confined to the Roman Catholic Church, nor to the congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses. The 2 groups have been found wanting in their handling of abuse cases. It is time for them both to recognise the shortcomings in their systems. It is the failure of the 2 groups to address the problems within their organisations and their desire to keep the information under wraps which is now causing God's name to be drawn into disrepute. Had the problems been addressed immediately they became apparent, the enormous public reaction could have been minimised and further cases of child abuse minimised. Unfortunately, both the Roman Catholic Church and the WTBTS have dragged their feet in addressing the situations despite rumblings from inside that all is not well and that changes were required. Those in authority who did not heed those warnings and act to stop such terrible atrocities bear a heavy responsibility for that inactivity and obstruction to change.
Paedophiles go where the children are most vulnerable or least protected. It is up to us as individuals to protect our children and have structures in place to ensure such protection.
WT elders are not qualified individuals to handle child abuse and should not be required to do so. If a Jehovah's Witness parent were to approach an elder to report that one of their children had possibly broken the arm of another of their children, the injured child would not be sat down immediately and questioned about the minutiae of how the accident happened. The injured child would be sent off for the assistance of qualified medical personnel, surely....?
Why does this not happen with child abuse vicitms?