Jehovah’s Witnesses failing to address child abuse allegations, say government inquiries
An inquiry opened by the UK Charity Commission in May 2014 to investigate the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Britain’s handling and oversight of safeguarding matters, including child protection advice provided to individual Jehovah’s Witness (JW) congregations found that “a total of 67 allegations of child abuse were made between 2009 and 2019 against 67 individuals involved in JW congregations, whether as Elders, ministerial servants or otherwise.”
The inquiry was opened initially in 2007 into the London Mill Hill Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses after an Elder was convicted for historic sexual offences involving 13 young people over a period of 15 years. These offences were committed whilst he was a member of a JW congregation. The congregation was not aware of these offences at the time of the individual’s appointment as an Elder and the inquiry stated that the congregation took the appropriate steps to remove him from serving as an Elder at the time of his initial arrest in 2006.
The Commission’s inquiry into the London Mill Hill Congregation finds that it did not have a child protection policy in place at the time. On 1st February 2011, the charity distributed the Child Protection Policy (‘2011 Policy’) to all Bodies of Elders in the United Kingdom and Ireland, to which all Elders were expected to adhere.
One key issue which emerged during the inquiry was the extent to which the charity itself remained responsible for ensuring children and vulnerable people are safe from harm within JW congregations. READ MORE:
https://eutoday.net/jehovahs-witnesses-failing-to-address-child-abuse-allegations-says-government-inquiries/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email