i'm working on some statistical analysis of child abuse data made public by the royal commission.
while i'm working on this, can someone here do me a favor and look up the peak publisher figures reported by watchtower for the australian branch for each of the years from 2005 through 2014?
my thanks in advance.
"Think about that the next time you attend an assembly and see dozens of kids running around without parental supervision".
Not if they pay attention and do as they are advised at every assembly and convention: "Parents, keep your children with you at all times".
we haven't been to a meeting or jw event in several years.
we have been following the rc closely.
it is fascinating!
all jws on the stand have stuck to the same line that they have no problem with cooperating with mandatory reporting when state law requires it.. if the law does not require it then bible principles absolutely prevent them from taking away rights of the victim to report abuse to the police or not.. we have already heard from a jw rep a couple of days ago who proudly asserted that when the law conflicts with bible principle they will always obey the bible and quoted acts 5:29 "we must obey god rather than men".. please join the dots!.
@ Marvin Shilmer
The question is, is the law of mandatory reporting against scripture? I don't think so. Now if the elders took it upon themselves to report without the law there, then they would be infringing on the rights of the family.
To get around that the elders could warn the congregants that any disclosure of child
molestation will be reported to the police (as per what what the RC
wants) and thus give the families the right to disclose to the elders or not. It already works this way with councilors as I mentioned. Of course this could bring with it many problems. I wonder if the RC has fully thought that one out??
all jws on the stand have stuck to the same line that they have no problem with cooperating with mandatory reporting when state law requires it.. if the law does not require it then bible principles absolutely prevent them from taking away rights of the victim to report abuse to the police or not.. we have already heard from a jw rep a couple of days ago who proudly asserted that when the law conflicts with bible principle they will always obey the bible and quoted acts 5:29 "we must obey god rather than men".. please join the dots!.
are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?
do you feel personally vindicated by it?
do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?
are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?
do you feel personally vindicated by it?
do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?
As posted by konceptual99
I am just wondering however if there are situations that have to come to light through places like this site where people have first hand experience of being disfellowshipped for going to the authorities about child abuse.
and
Are there reasons why the cases of unreported abuse you know about
remain unreported? Are you or others you know in a position to support
the victims in making a report now?
I would be interested in having answers to this as well.
i have been in correspondence recently with silentambs and a few interesting things have been highlighted.
some of you may know, that bill bowen has twice tried to get the fbi involved in investigating child molestation issues in the jws org.
this is what he said to me, i quote: we have reported to the fbi on two occasions and were rebuffed due to them not wishing to get involved with a religion.
i have been in correspondence recently with silentambs and a few interesting things have been highlighted.
some of you may know, that bill bowen has twice tried to get the fbi involved in investigating child molestation issues in the jws org.
this is what he said to me, i quote: we have reported to the fbi on two occasions and were rebuffed due to them not wishing to get involved with a religion.
@searcher
Nitty Gritty - If your wife/sister/daughter was raped by a fellow J.W., would you consult the elders first, or would you report it to the police?
Interested to see what your reasoning is, compared to those elders in Australia - and elswhere.
Well it can't be a wife, as I occupy that role. If it was my sister I would encourage her to go to the police, but I would respect her decision whether to go or not. I could not force her. But she would be obliged to go to the elders to report the sin/crime of a fellow believer. If she didn't go I would report it to the elders for her. If it was my daughter, and she was a minor, I would not need to consult with anyone. I would report the person to the elders and the police immediately, and not necessarily in that order.
are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?
do you feel personally vindicated by it?
do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?
@loveuni
- imagine being a parent with a child in the late 80s (roughly the time when BCG was being abused). Your child alleges a brother abused him/her. Would you not immediately go to the police?
That's the thing, many people didn't! And I am not talking about JWs
Just read the interim report, and you will have answers to all your questions
Yes, I'm aware that the Commission was set up to look into many organisations. However, at the moment the focus is on the WTS. When other organisations come under scrutiny, I'll post comments about that.
They already looked at 28,the WTS is the 29th case
are you pleased with the exposure of the society in australia?
do you feel personally vindicated by it?
do you think it gives you credibility with others now that all the things you said were going on, actually are documented?
@done4good
You
keep dodging the real issue. Why does reporting need to be "mandatory"
for it to be done in the first place? If the JW system and bible are
truly morally superior, this reporting in the interest of children's
protection should be a given. Why does the WT only comply when required?
Answer that and stop evading the real issue.
Because the question is about a second party (elders) reporting. But regardless of whether it is mandatory or not, the victim/parents are free to report it whenever they want. Obviously.
