Former Jehovah’s Witness welcomes findings, says there is “credible evidence” of abuse

The Royal Commission into Child Abuse, which has been trying to avoid scrutiny by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, has found “credible evidence” of child sexual abuse within the church, but no evidence that anyone had reported it.

Victoria waited 50 years for people to believe her.

The former Jehovah’s Witness suffered decades of sexual and physical abuse from childhood to adolescence at the hands of his father, a respected elder in his church.

It wasn’t until she was in her 20s that she tried to tell another elder about the abuse.

“They didn’t believe me. It was because of the two-witness rule. They asked me, ‘Where’s your other witness?'”

The rule, based on the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ literal translation of their Bible, states that two witnesses must be present at a crime for an elder (the equivalent of a priest) to determine if there was “fault.”

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It wasn’t until Victoria gave evidence to the Royal Commission into Care Abuse when she was 70 that her story was finally believed.

“I got a lovely letter from the committee saying: ‘We believe you and we accept that this happened.’

“That was the first time in my life that I had ever experienced anything like that,” she said.

“I saved the letter on my computer desktop and whenever I feel down, I look at it.”

The second time she felt vindicated was on Wednesday, sitting in a packed parliamentary public gallery. The final report of the investigation has been put on holdIt reveals the extent of the systematic abuse of children and vulnerable people in the care of the state and religious faiths in the country between 1950 and 1999.

“I was shaking all over. But I was surprised to hear politicians say ‘we believe you’.”

‘Reliable evidence of abuse’

The final report of the investigation included a scathing 64-page case study of the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The study found that the two-witness rule and many church policies and practices increase the risk of abuse in care.

There was “credible evidence” that sexual abuse occurred in the church’s care and that it would be “inappropriate and emotionally or psychologically abusive” for elders to question children or young people who had been sexually abused during an investigation.

However, the extent of sexual abuse is difficult to quantify due to poor church recordkeeping and barriers to reporting.

“These barriers include women’s lower status in the church, strict disclosure procedures, fear of ostracism, and relative alienation from non-Jehovah’s Witnesses, all of which may prevent or delay victims from disclosing abuse,” the report states.

Faith Avoidance behavior – or excommunication – was considered a “significant factor” by witnesses during the investigation, as believers were discouraged from forming relationships with any non-believers, making it more difficult to leave the church.

The investigation found that elders were not vetted or trained in child protection and abuse prevention, and believers were often reluctant to report allegations to authorities.

The report states that evidence submitted by Jehovah’s Witnesses shows “the type of attitudes towards female victims of sexual abuse.”

“For example, the documents mention that girls aged 14 and 15 developed a ‘fascination’ with their abuser.

“In one incident, an elder had sexual relations with a 15-year-old girl, and the Witnesses’ summary record states that “the elders were shocked at the seriousness of this crime and the impact it would have on the congregation if the girl became pregnant and the crime became known.”

The report also states: “The investigation found no evidence that Jehovah’s Witnesses submitted allegations of sexual abuse to police during the New Zealand investigation. This is consistent with findings in Australia and the United Kingdom.”

‘Position of power’

Jehovah’s Witnesses He has been trying to evade investigation for years.saying it did not take care of children or vulnerable groups.

In April this year, the Court of Appeal dismissed the church’s lawsuit and the church has now applied for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The church also tried unsuccessfully to obtain a copy of the case study before it was made public, and Last minute attempt earlier this week A request was made to stop the publication of the book altogether, but this request was rejected.

The inquiry found that there was credible evidence that the church did care for children and the vulnerable, and that elders had power and enjoyed church-given status and authority.

“The church assumes responsibility for the care of children and young people who are placed in the care of elders for witnessing activities, pastoral support and care, working bees and other organised activities, as well as investigations and judicial committee proceedings,” the statement said.

“The church’s responsibility for these children and young people arises from the position of authority and trust it confers on the elders and the elders’ actions in these circumstances in which they care for the children and young people without supervision. In these circumstances, the children and young people are in the care of the church,” the report states.

The report said Ms SC was molested and raped by an elder when she was 15 after attending a one-to-one Bible study “that she had no choice but to attend”. The investigation found that she was in the care of the church at the time, although the Jehovah’s Witnesses denied this in documents submitted to the inquiry.

The survey states: “In addition to this case, there have been other cases of sexual abuse of children and young people within the Jehovah’s Witnesses church, although this survey does not specifically define these cases as care situations. Most of the abusers were male family members who were also members of the church. One was abused by a man the family trusted, and another witnessed his brother being sexually abused by a man the family was friends with because they were also Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

It wasn’t just sexual abuse – it was also psychological and emotional abuse, which survivors say they experienced while in the faith’s care during the “judicial inquiry” and commission process.

At 12, Jasmine Grew was questioned by three male elders after she revealed she had been sexually abused.

She told investigators: “I went into the back room and the elders (male) were there. I had no support, no friends, no mother, nothing. At the time, my mother had no idea what was going on. The elders interrogated me. They asked the most difficult questions for a 12-year-old. They asked me ‘Does it hurt?’ referring to physical problems with my abuser. They wanted to know everything. Their questions were inappropriate. It was a horrific experience for me at that age. It seemed as traumatic as the sexual abuse itself.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses Response

The Sydney-based Australian chapter of Jehovah’s Witnesses said in a statement the case study was not a “fair and accurate assessment”.

“Jehovah’s Witnesses have deep compassion for all victims of abuse and are committed to providing them with support and comfort.

“The protection of children remains a top concern and priority for all Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“We welcome the review of our child protection policy and have been engaging openly with the investigation since it began.

“We are therefore frustrated that the case study fails to provide an accurate and fair assessment of the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”

However, former Jehovah’s Witnesses say the case study is a pretty accurate portrayal of the faith’s practices.

“They are glad the report is finally out and that it covers all the issues they are concerned about, even though some find it difficult to read,” said Shayne Mechen, a former Presbyterian survivors advocate.

He was disappointed the inquiry had failed to identify the number of possible child sex abuse allegations in New Zealand and questioned why it had not used legal means to obtain the information. He believes in faith.

In 2016, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found that Jehovah’s Witnesses had received allegations, reports or complaints involving at least 1,800 victims of child sexual abuse, of which 11% of the alleged abusers were elders or ministerial public servants.

A New Zealand inquiry has found that “inadequate record keeping” hampered its ability to assess the extent of sexual abuse in the country.

Machin, like other former members, does not want the church’s “governing body” to make a public apology and acknowledgement of the abuse and neglect suffered by the New Zealand Jehovah’s Witnesses Church, as recommended by the commission of inquiry.

“The governing body has never apologised for any abuse anywhere in the world,” he said. “Australia asked for an apology as part of its remediation programme and it hasn’t.”

Another former elder, Edward Narayan, agreed that an apology was unlikely.

“I don’t think they will apologise unless the government forces them to do so and removes their charity status.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses Australia issued a further statement to Radio New Zealand, saying it was “currently reviewing the report and the inquiry’s recommendations and therefore it is too early to say whether an apology will be issued”.

Another recommendation is that all religious institutions that provide care directly or indirectly must mandate reporting of allegations of child sexual abuse and have appropriate policies and procedures in place to respond to complaints, disclosures or incidents of abuse.

Sina, who was sexually abused as a child by a Christian family friend from the age of three to 11, wants mandatory reporting to come into effect.

She believes that the elders at her church must have had suspicions about her abuser but took no action.

“I found out as an adult that he abused three other people I knew. He was a very respected member of the church. They must have had some idea of ​​what was going on,” she said.

“The religious faith must take responsibility because these are the rules they follow and it is a male-dominated organisation where you get no support.”

Sina said giving evidence to the inquiry and having her testimony included in the case study published this week had been very comforting for her.

“For me, reparations is about bringing it out into the light. It helps me get over what happened to me because now I don’t have to live in the shadows. There are a lot of survivors who go through this, just behind closed doors.”

For Victoria, the disclosure of her evidence was enough for now.

“Personally, I went into the Royal Commission with no expectation of anything other than people believing my story, and that’s exactly what happened.

“I don’t know what the committee will decide. I hope something good will be done for those who have been mistreated,” she said.

“I hope this makes organizations and churches stop and think about their policies and procedures so that this doesn’t happen to the next generation.”