Posts by defender of truth

3

Petition: Tell Pope Francis It's Time to End Sexual Violence in the Catholic Church

by defender of truth in

4,264 signed of 5,000 goal.

tell pope francis it's time to end sexual violence in the catholic church.

with survivors network of those abused by priests, center for constitutional rights.

defender of truth

The Catholic church is telling newly appointed bishops that it is “not necessarily” their duty to report accusations of clerical child abuse and that only victims or their families should make the decision to report abuse to police.
A document that spells out how senior clergy members ought to deal with allegations of abuse, which was recently released by the Vatican, emphasised that, though they must be aware of local laws, bishops’ only duty was to address such allegations internally.

www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/10/catholic-bishops-not-obliged-report-clerical-child-abuse-vatican-says

...Does any of this sound familiar?

3

Petition: Tell Pope Francis It's Time to End Sexual Violence in the Catholic Church

by defender of truth in

4,264 signed of 5,000 goal.

tell pope francis it's time to end sexual violence in the catholic church.

with survivors network of those abused by priests, center for constitutional rights.

defender of truth

4,264 signed of 5,000 goal

Tell Pope Francis It's Time to End Sexual Violence in the Catholic Church

with Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, Center for Constitutional Rights

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Please help by signing and sharing.

The petition can be signed through this page:

www.takepart.com/spotlight/take-action

Full Petition Text
The church has failed to protect hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults from sexual violence in the Catholic Church and institutions and adequately address this ongoing global crisis.
We are asking you to ensure that the church complies with the United Nations recommendations, beginning with the immediate removal of all known and suspected abusers from assignment, increased transparency when dealing with these crimes, and ordering that all cases and reports be turned over to local civil authorities for independent investigation of the perpetrators and those who concealed or otherwise enabled these crimes.
Words are not enough. You must act to bring real, meaningful change to the church and accountability for these crimes.
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
About the action
By some estimates, the number of victims of clergy sexual violence is in the hundreds of thousands and on the rise as more survivors come forward and civil authorities begin investigations in Europe, Latin America, Africa, Australia, and Asia. The Vatican’s own experts have said there are 100,000 cases in the U.S. alone. Sexual violence in the Catholic Church is not a historical crisis but an ongoing problem, as is the lack of accountability.

Today, throughout the world, perpetrator priests who are known to church officials continue to hold posts in congregations, schools, orphanages, and elsewhere, unbeknownst to local communities.
The church has shown over and over that it cannot police itself.
In 2014, the United Nations issued a series of recommendations on what the Vatican must do to fulfill its obligations to human rights treaties and end this epidemic of sexual violence.
Pope Francis has all the authority he needs to move from words to action and stop further abuse.
By signing this petition, you’re standing with SNAP, CCR, and many others to demand that Pope Francis take the following concrete steps to address the violence:

Immediately remove all known and suspected child sexual abusers from assignment, and refer the matter to relevant law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution;
Hand over files containing details of cases of sexual violence to civil authorities for investigation and prosecution of abusers as well as those who concealed their crimes and knowingly placed offenders in contact with children, and demand bishops do the same in their local jurisdictions;
Encourage and protect church whistle-blowers who have come forward with information about the crisis of sexual violence. So far church officials have intimidated and retaliated against whistle-blowers.

76

BBC Radio 4. 14th February 2016. ''Sunday'' program with article on Witnesses and child abuse.

by ThomasCovenant in

the sunday programme investigates allegations that the jehovah's witness ordered the destruction of documents that could be used during the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

was this in contravention of section 21 of the inquiries act 2005 which is punishable by imprisonment?.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0709v34.

defender of truth

This link goes straight to the JW part.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0709v34#playt=0h33m30s

(easier to send to elders with short attention spans) ;)

42

Trey Bundy: One Year of Reporting JW Child Abuse - Your comments please!

by AndersonsInfo in

http://watchtowerdocuments.org/trey-bundy-one-year-of-reporting-jw-child-abuse/.

trey bundy: one year of reporting jw child abuse.

it’s been one year since trey bundy first reported the watchtower’s child abuse problems.. twelve months ago the center for investigative reporting (cir) began publishing information about jehovah’s witnesses and their cover-up of child sexual abuse on their website, reveal.

defender of truth

www.revealnews.org/article/jehovahs-witnesses-use-1st-amendment-to-hide-child-sex-abuse-claims/

^^ I have passed on the above article to more people and organisations than I could count.. including the Independent Inquiry in the UK.

Please pass on my most grateful thanks. Without Trey's work, we would have far less hard-hitting and concise articles to share with others.

There is almost too much information out there sometimes, too much to sort through, especially regarding such a complex issue as child abuse.

Trey's articles are invaluable. They could not be improved upon in any way, in my opinion.

Please keep them coming, we need articles that are easy-to-digest and yet accurate.

The public needs your work.. to keep them informed about these issues, but without overwhelming them with tonnes of info they'll never read.

PLEASE keep up your fine work. We all appreciate it greatly.

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Knowledge is power. Information is liberating.

Kofi Annan

22

Do you want to take action to support mandatory child abuse reporting? (UK or US mainly)

by defender of truth in

this quote is just for discussion purposes, not my political bias or anything... .

" a 'revolution in attitudes' is needed to safeguard children from sex abusers, according to the shadow home secretary, yvette cooper.in an interview with the independent on sunday, ms cooper said that the problem was wider than the historic cases uncovered through the jimmy savile scandal and the abuse of hundreds of children in rotherham.she said that childrens voices must be heard by organisations which had failed to act in the past, and pledged that a labour government would make the reporting of abuse a legal requirement... we need to introduce mandatory reporting so that no institution can ever be tempted to think that the reputation of the institution matters more than the protection of the child ... there has to be a stronger obligation to report and to act.labour has included mandatory reporting in the partys pre-election manifesto and has also said it will set up a cross-whitehall unit to tackle child protection.

"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/child-sex-abuse-shadow-home-secretary-calls-for-revolution-in-attitudes-to-safeguard-vulnerable-10077725.html.

defender of truth

More details here:

www.mandatenow.org.uk/our-petition/

15

Protest for Mandatory Reporting?

by Luther bertrand in

on another thread, i have been having a discussion about protests in connection with watchtower policy.

one of the biggest and more re-occuring rebuttals to protesting at kingdom halls and assemblies is that it does two things: 1. it re-enforces the apostate "mentally diseased" narrative heaped on the xjw community by the gb 2. it causes people to withdraw and get closer to the borg.. what if we as a group took the protest to city halls and government authorities to raise awareness of the need for mandatory reporting laws, rather than protesting @jw events?

hell even geoffry jackson, when he gave his testimony at the arc, agreed that it would be "helpful".

defender of truth

A group called Mandate Now is already taking action in the UK.

Supporting a group effort, especially one that already has political backing, generally has more of an effect than a few individuals stood around at a protest.

www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/172490001/do-you-want-take-action-support-mandatory-child-abuse-reporting-uk-us-mainly?page=3#/5079478900359168

22

Do you want to take action to support mandatory child abuse reporting? (UK or US mainly)

by defender of truth in

this quote is just for discussion purposes, not my political bias or anything... .

" a 'revolution in attitudes' is needed to safeguard children from sex abusers, according to the shadow home secretary, yvette cooper.in an interview with the independent on sunday, ms cooper said that the problem was wider than the historic cases uncovered through the jimmy savile scandal and the abuse of hundreds of children in rotherham.she said that childrens voices must be heard by organisations which had failed to act in the past, and pledged that a labour government would make the reporting of abuse a legal requirement... we need to introduce mandatory reporting so that no institution can ever be tempted to think that the reputation of the institution matters more than the protection of the child ... there has to be a stronger obligation to report and to act.labour has included mandatory reporting in the partys pre-election manifesto and has also said it will set up a cross-whitehall unit to tackle child protection.

"http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/child-sex-abuse-shadow-home-secretary-calls-for-revolution-in-attitudes-to-safeguard-vulnerable-10077725.html.

defender of truth

With our superb sister petition 'Daniels Law' which has done most of the 'heavy lift' in securing signatures, we are today 2/12/15 presenting the two under the single banner Mandate Now. We have over 200,000 signatures.
Firstly the petition is being presented at No10 at 14.30 - then later in the afternoon the Rt Hon Cheryl Gillan MP. for Chesham and Amersham who is so supportive of Mandate Now, will be presenting it on the floor of the House of Commons. Here is a link to our Press Release.
In future please follow us on twitter @mandatenow and our website: Mandate Now
Our petition will shortly disappear having done an excellent job.

www.change.org/p/educationgovuk-introduce-law-requiring-adults-working-with-children-to-report-alleged-abuse-mandatenow

www.change.org/p/david-cameron-change-the-law-to-better-protect-vulnerable-children-like-daniel-pelka-danielslaw

^^ The above is quoted from the old petitions that you may have signed.

------------

Petition update
Daniel's Law goes to UK Parliament
Paula Barrow
Manchester, United Kingdom
4 Dec 2015 — On Wednesday December 2, our petition was presented in Parliament by Cheryl Gillan MP (Conservative) with the support of Sharon Hodgson MP (Labour) and Baroness Joan Walmsley (Lib Dem), in collaboration and partnership with pressure group Mandate Now.
Thank you for your continued support as we celebrate this landmark event - the weight of our 200K+ signatures has put the call for new legislation to protect vulnerable children on the parliamentary agenda and we now move for formal debate.
It's a slow process and we remain determined to effect this change, in Daniel's name and for other children like him who continue to suffer abuse of every kind, every day.
Children can't stop abuse, adults can; please continue to sign to make it law for staff working with children to report suspected and known abuse.
Backed by the largest group of survivor charities in the UK and by representatives from every major political party, we will continue to work with Mandate Now to make this change happen.
@mandatenow
www.change.org/danielslaw

Many thanks to everyone that signed or forwarded these petitions. ;)

76

BBC Radio 4. 14th February 2016. ''Sunday'' program with article on Witnesses and child abuse.

by ThomasCovenant in

the sunday programme investigates allegations that the jehovah's witness ordered the destruction of documents that could be used during the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

was this in contravention of section 21 of the inquiries act 2005 which is punishable by imprisonment?.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0709v34.

defender of truth

A spokesperson for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said:
“The chair has stated that the inquiry will investigate abuse in religious settings (including all faiths and religious traditions) and issued a letter giving notice of retention/non-destruction of documents to the leaders of 18 prominent religious organisations.”

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/jehovahs-witnesses-ordered-destruction-notes-10848053

A deliberately vague statement by the Inquiry.

(Are jw's thought of as prominent, though? Not likely..)

But one thing's for sure..

The org is definitely on the Independent Inquiry's radar.

69

Could the Independent Inquiry in England and Wales expose jw.org's child abuse failures? And how can we help?

by defender of truth in

with all the talk about the org's policies and failures regarding child sexual abuse being publically exposed in australia, i thought that it may be a good time to highlight this... i apologise if this has already been discussed, but on the 9th of july the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse in england and wales was opened.

here is some information regarding it's aims.. "about the inquiry.

the inquiry offers an unprecedented opportunity to examine the extent to which institutions and organisations in england and wales have taken seriously their responsibility to protect children.. the inquiry will investigate a wide range of institutions including:.