Abuse at Jehovah’s: ‘They treat us, the victims, as perpetrators’

Originally published in Dutch by NOS nieuws on August 16, 2018.

Thirty years ago, Hadassah Wiersma first reported sexual abuse against family members. Her uncle and aunt, who are members of the Jehovah's Witnesses, were never prosecuted because there was insufficient evidence. A few years later she tried again, but again without success.

Now Wiersma is more hopeful, because the Public Prosecution Service will investigate nine cases of sexual violence within the church. Wiersma is one of those nine. "Previously I was on my own. We now have a larger group around us. As a group we hope to achieve the same goal that I wanted to achieve as an individual thirty years ago," says Wiersma.

Watch Hadassah's story in the video below: [click here to view]

When Wiersma was 8 years old, she regularly had to sleep in one bed with her aunt and uncle. "Without clothes on. I experienced incest for almost ten years."

But that wasn't the only thing. Wiersma's uncle wanted to take pictures of her. "At that time I was 13, so I thought: 'nice, I'm going to have my picture taken as a photo model'. And it started off nicely, I received three photos from my uncle, but those photos show the neatly dressed version ."

Because the photo shoot was on a warm summer day. Wiersma was forced to take off her clothes by her uncle. "He said: 'It's warm, isn't it? Even with all those lights.' So that's how the fun pictures started turning into nudes."

These are the three photos that Hadassah Wiersma received from her uncle (Photo – NOS News)

Wiersma himself has never seen the nude photos. "He thought I was too young. If I was old enough, he would show me them. The elders of the faith and an ex-boyfriend have seen the photos." Only later did Wiersma realize that these were pornographic photos. "I was afraid for years that the photos would turn up somewhere. I looked in newsstands to see if I came across my photos in booklets or magazines."

Research into religious community

Although Wiersma is happy that the Public Prosecution Service will now investigate the nine reports, she also remains moderately positive. "The investigation focuses on the individual reports. These are therefore investigated and not the Jehovah's Witnesses religious community as an organization." Wiersma would have liked to see it differently. "After our individual investigation has been completed, there may only be an investigation into the religious community. So that will take a long time."

In Wiersma's previous two reports, she asked the elders who saw her nude photos to testify. Both times they didn't show up. "That is the way the Jehovah's deal with this: pushing it under the carpet, not taking it seriously. They treat us, the victims, more like perpetrators. I have even been expelled from the religious organization, so that they no longer have to touch it." This gives the perpetrators free rein to continue."

My perpetrators are still out there and other children should not become victims of this.

- Hadassah Wiersma

Wiersma's fear is that her nude photos are still floating around somewhere. "My uncle and aunt are still members of the religious community. I therefore want a thorough investigation into where those photos are and that they are destroyed. For that reason alone they can be charged. It is simply child pornography that is there occurred."

Wiersma also hopes that more victims will come forward. "We have currently received about 300 reports, but I am sure there are many more. I hope they get the strength to come forward with their story. My perpetrators are still out there and other children are allowed to Don't fall victim to that."

Lester Somrah

Lester Somrah writes about the beliefs and practices of Jehovah’s Witnesses on his social media platforms and was baptized as a member in 1998.