80 reports of abuse within Jehovah’s Witnesses

The reporting center for sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses received eighty reports in the first month. Fifty of these came directly to the reporting point, the thirty others came via the Trouw newspaper, which has recently written regularly about the abuse.

Many reports come from people who are no longer members of the organization, says Raymond Hintjes of the Reclaimed Voices foundation, which opened the reporting point. The foundation is counting on more reports. "We have already received many reports, but since there are more than 30,000 people in the Netherlands who are members of the Jehovah's Witnesses, we think this is the tip of the iceberg. We suspect that there are hundreds of cases."

Victims often do not dare to come forward with their stories, says Hintjes. "There is still a taboo on talking about sexual abuse. In addition, the Jehovah's Witnesses are a very closed community, which resolves these types of matters through an internal procedure. After that, there is often no further mention of it. And that happens. Well, then it's the victim's word against the perpetrator's word."

Toilet roll

One of the founders of the foundation, Frank Huiting, anonymously told his story about the abuse in Trouw last summer. He said that between the ages of five and seven, he was abused by an older boy who came to visit his parents for a Bible group. "When this boy came upstairs to read to Hunting, he took a toilet roll with him," the newspaper wrote.

Jehovah's Witnesses have not yet responded to the opening of the reporting point. "After its establishment, Jehovah's Witnesses indicated that they were prepared to enter into discussions with us. We then sent a letter to the board of the organization. They have now said that they are considering how they will respond to the case."