Jwundubbed - If you mean, that people like the JWs should be required by law to take reports of sexual abuse to governmental authorities, well that would be a step in the right direction and it will help prevent FURTHER abuse... but it won't prevent the abuse that already happened.
So true. The WT commonly tries to "get out of their responsibilities" to report by claiming that they have "clergy penitent privilege"... in a special way.
If WT and the elders HAD reported ANY molestations, these molesters would get on a list with police, and if people would not get DF'd for 'talking about it', then families could be warned, and molesters themselves would have a harder time tricking people.
It's not that the victim's are being held responsible to report the crime, it's that the people who are already SUPPOSE to report are not reporting. They are making the problem worse.
Laws have to start somewhere, and making sure that institutions report is just ONE of the laws that need refining and enforcing.
I myself have friends who have been abused, and have been in congregations where this has happened. So many people say, "If only they had warned us, if only we could have said something, others would not have had to suffer" It's not that the victims want ANY one to suffer, but there is always a first.
Making it safe for kids to report is another goal. No fear of retaliation or punishment. Step by step we must try to make things better for our 'next generation,' and help change the culture that we live in.