So this woman at age 14 is raped by a member of the church. He recorded the assault and the elders make her relive the assault by making her listen to the rape. Meanwhile whichbis often the case with CSA, the victim is victimized again and blamed. She sued, it took some time, but she finally got justice.
Utah Supreme Court Revives lawsuit of woman who-claims church made her listen to her own rape
I have not seen where she has gotten justice yet. This was held up by the watchtower lawyers for far too long, as is their usual practice to wear them down. I imagine she did not scream enough for them in the 4-6 hours of tape listening.
I will say this upfront- Most Jws would never want this to happen to any child. The problem is not average Jw- they are in complete denial and are told that it is all lies (by apostates) and are forbidden to pay attention to it.
JWs obey to their masters.
People are now numb to this horrid issue due to the RCC problems which made a lot of news. This is far worse in number when comparing JW population vs RCC population. That sounds crazy? Sorry- it's very true. In Australia alone it's true. There has been a media blackout with all of these cases. Finally, the RCC at least apologized. The Watchtower never will. This has been going on for many decades now with JWs. It's been dubbed a "pedophilia paradise" I used to pay close attention to it twenty years ago. Nothing has changed. Despite what they say.
This Jw PROBLEM is widespread and is global. It is due to the Watchtower's rule that there must be 2-3 witnesses of the molestation. They base this on the biblical rule of 2-3 witnesses to establish a case. No 2 people saw?- tough luck- Nothing we can do. It is that simple to them. This is what rigid merciless Pharisaical biblical legalism does while fully believing they have God's backing,
Common sense and a concern for protecting children will tell anyone that abusers are secretive and certainly do not allow people to watch them rape children. These children are treated as criminals themselves and are totally humiliated before the elders at the order of headquarters.
There is a long flow of documentation that states that they elders were told to call headquarters when there is abuse. They are always told NOT to call authorities. There are zero cases where they were told to call. Instead, they are told to ask questions of the child (or adult) and determine guilt- they would ask if he/she screamed- If not, you consented! After forcing the child to relive it- Every detail of the rape was documented and put into a large 'blue envelope" in each Kingdom Hall files. No one was told. Rapists were allowed to continue as Jws even as Elders. This is all fully documented.
When the parents asked to call authorities- they were told that it would "bring reproach upon Jehovah's organization". A very common saying among Jws and is a very real threat to a JW meaning disfellowshipping and then shunning, and also means certain death at Armageddon in a Jw's mind.
Make no mistake, the Watchtower has a lot of clout and is a multi-billion dollar Corporation. Yes, I did say Corporation. That is what they are. They have an army of attorneys and connections.
The vast majority of sexual abuse victims are stalled indefinitely and when they do make it to trial and where they do win, they are gag ordered by the threats of the Watchtower. That is why you don't hear their stories. The Watchtower deal maker attorneys give them a choice after stalling and stalling the case and after the victim finally wins the court case.- They are told that they will appeal unless a gag order is signed. While the abuse victim's attorneys know full well that the watchtower will lose upon appeal- these victims are so damaged and distraught from not only the actual sexual abuse & cover-up, but then long stressful delays that they will sign the gag just to end it all.
The governor of Pennsylvania began an investigation in his state after an xjw elder came to him with cases. Fifteen Jws were arrested, and so far I know of 5 who have had trials and have been sentenced.
This abuse is widespread and is global.
It is due to the Watchtower's rule that there must be 2-3 eye witnesses of the molestation. They base this on the biblical rule of 2-3 witnesses to establish a case. However, common sense will tell anyone that abusers are secretive and certainly do not allow people to watch. If the molester confesses to elders and says he is sorry - nothing happens to him. If he denies as most do, the eye witness rule has last say.
There is a long flow of documentation that states that the elders were told to call headquarters when there is abuse and then they are always told NOT to call authorities. There are zero cases where they were told to call. Instead, they are told to ask questions of the child (or adult) and determine guilt- they would ask if he/she
screamed.
If not, you consented!
If the parents asked to call authorities- they were told that it would "bring reproach upon Jehovah's organization". That is a threat to a JW meaning disfellowshipping and then shunning which means certain death to a Jw.
In Australian the Royal Commission investigated and found the following-
The Royal Commission identified the following policies and practices in the Jehovah’s Witness organisation’s response to child sexual abuse as problematic:
• the organisation does not have a practice of reporting child sexual abuse to police or any other authority
• before 1998, a survivor of child sexual abuse was required to make their allegation in the presence of their abuser
• if the accused does not confess, there is an inflexible requirement that there be two eyewitnesses to an incident of child sexual abuse
• women are absent from the decision-making processes of the internal disciplinary system
• there is no clear provision for a survivor to be accompanied by a support person during the internal disciplinary process
• the organisation has limited and ineffective risk management practices
• the organisation has a policy and practice of shunning those who wish to leave the organisation
That is from page 12 here-
