'An overwhelming majority of children of Jehovah’s Witnesses have experienced abuse from their parents, according to a report compiled by a lawyers group.
The report, released Monday, sheds light on the abuse many second-generation Jehovah’s Witnesses have experienced from their parents under rules that were set out by the religion, including forcing the children to refuse blood transfusions regardless of their situation, and corporal punishment.
In the report compiled by the lawyers group supporting former Jehovah’s Witnesses, 81% of respondents said that they were made to own a “blood transfusion refusal card.” Even if a child is going through serious medical treatment, there have been several cases where parents have refused to let their children receive a blood transfusion, the report said.
Jehovah’s Witnesses discourage blood transfusions because they believe that they should not sustain life using another creature's blood. The report says that this constitutes abuse because it directly endangers a child’s life.
The report also showed that over 90% of the respondents had been hit by their parents, or in some cases by religious community leaders, as “punishment” for such things as falling asleep during Jehovah’s Witnesses meetings.
The survey showed that corporal punishment — commonly carried out with hands, a belt or a ruler — would start very early on in life, in some cases even before the child was 3 years old.
Another issue highlighted in the report is how Jehovah’s Witnesses shun those who leave the religious group or go against its teachings. In some extreme cases, former followers have been disowned by their parents.
Developing romantic relationships or friendships is also a struggle for many second-generation Jehovah’s Witnesses, as their parents have often imposed tough restrictions — in many cases the children could only participate in school activities in a limited way.
The lawyers group submitted the report to the Children and Families Agency on Monday, requesting the government to further investigate the possibility of child abuse within the religious community.
Upon receiving the report, agency chief Ayuko Kato commented that “child abuse cannot be justified even if there is religious belief behind it.”
The report compiled survey responses from over 581 former and current members, with these given via the internet in May and June. This followed the government’s release of a guideline late last year that stated that the imposition of a religion may be considered child abuse, prompting many former second-generation Jehovah’s Witnesses to come forward about their experiences.
“We have not engaged in any form of child abuse and the report is just based on opinions of some people who have negative feelings toward the group,” a representative from the Jehovah’s Witnesses was quoted by NHK as saying about the survey.
The experience of second-generation religious followers has been under the spotlight in Japan following the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year. The man suspected of shooting Abe held a grudge against the Unification Church and believed the former prime minister had connections to it.'
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/11/21/japan/society/jehovahs-witnesses-survey-abuse/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#Echobox=1700559975
