Minister Dekker disappointed in Jehovah’s Witnesses’ hunt for sensitive data

According to the minister, the board should focus on creating more openness and recognition for the position of victims, instead of taking legal action, including requesting the interview reports. “I can imagine that this feels like a step down for the victims and the participants in the research. For me, it confirms the picture that emerges from the research,” says Minister Dekker in response to parliamentary questions from MPs from the SP and PvdA.

Traumatic

The study, published early last year, showed that the way Jehovah's Witnesses deal with abuse is traumatic for the victims. The organization, with 30,000 members in the Netherlands, often handles abuse privately. Sixty percent of the witnesses and ex-witnesses who cooperated even gave the handling of abuse a grade of 1.

The Jehovah's Witnesses Community previously tried to block the publication of the research through a judge. That failed.

Since the publication of the report, the board has tried in various ways to find out more about the research. This includes transcribed in-depth interviews and the raw data from the questionnaires completed by approximately 750 members and ex-members. Nearly 300 of them said they had been abused themselves.
 
Utrecht University partially rejected a request to release the documents. The community board then started an objection procedure. The board submitted a wob request to the Scientific Research and Documentation Center (WODC), which is the knowledge institute for the Ministry of Justice and Security.
 
The documents that have been released mainly consist of e-mail traffic and other documents relating to the design of the investigation. Completed questionnaires and reports of conversations with victims by participants are only accessible to researchers at Utrecht University due to the privacy-sensitive information, the WODC said.

Minister does not want to discuss again

MPs Van Nispen (SP) and Kuiken (PvdA) ask whether the minister would like to talk again with the board of the Jehovah's Witnesses to find out the exact motives behind the Wob requests and to make it clear that he stands firm for the protection of abuse victims. Minister Dekker has little interest in such a conversation. He says he has already discussed this in an earlier meeting. “Given these conversations, and the fact that this has not brought about any change in their attitude, I see no point in consulting with the board about the motivations behind the Wob request.”

Abuse on the way to paradise

In 2019, Zembla made a broadcast about how the Jehovah's Witnesses covered up the abuse and how victims were vilified. Watch the broadcast below: