Jehovah’s Witnesses
The Jehovah’s Witnesses is an organisation founded in the United States in the late 19th century. The organisation has been active in Australia since 1896. The organisation’s Australian legal entity is the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd (Watchtower Australia).
The organisation was looked at by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Case Study No 29 - The response of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to allegations of child sexual abuse, published in October 2016. The Royal Commission found that there were major systematic issues in how the organisation failed to protect children within the organisation from sexual abuse, and how it failed to properly investigate any allegations of child sexual abuse. The Royal Commission concluded that children under its care were not adequately protected and that its policies and procedures were so inadequate and outdated. For example, the organisation’s procedures were based on the following:
a 2,000-year-old two-witness rule where a complainant of child sexual abuse whose allegation has not been corroborated by confession by their abuser or by a second ‘credible’ eyewitness is not further investigated; and
the general practice of not reporting child sex abuse allegations to police or authorities unless required to do so by law.
In the end the Royal Commission found that the Jehovah’s Witnesses sanctions and procedures were so weak that it created a system for continual re-offending. Since 1950, the Royal Commission has found that the organisation had recorded 1006 allegations of child sexual abuse of which only one was reported to the police.
Moody Law has represented in the past a client who was a victim of child sexual abuse by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
We invite former victims to tell us confidentially what information they may have, and we will explain what options are available to help with these cases.
Call us or complete the confidential enquiry form below.