Jehovah’s Witnesses want to prevent publication of abuse report

Originally published in Dutch by NOS nieuws on January 21, 2020.

The Dutch branch of the Jehovah's Witnesses wants to use summary proceedings to prevent publication of a report on abuse within the community, write Het Parool and Dagblad van het Noorden. Utrecht University, to which the authors of the report are affiliated, confirms the lawsuit to NOS. The religious community cannot be reached for comment.

The Utrecht researchers were commissioned by the Scientific Research and Documentation Center (WODC) of the Ministry of Justice and Security to map the severity and extent of abuse within the religious community. That is why the university and the Dutch state have been summoned in summary proceedings, which will be heard at the court in Utrecht tomorrow afternoon.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have already seen the report. According to the Dagblad van het Noord, the organization characterizes the conclusions as scientific and factually incorrect, defamatory and very insulting. According to the religious community, publication will lead to irreparable damage to all Jehovah's witnesses in the Netherlands and there is discrimination on the basis of religion.

What do the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe?
The Netherlands has approximately 30,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, who are best known for their door-to-door preaching tours, where they want to discuss the Bible and their faith with residents. The community originated in the Christian US at the end of the 19th century, and adopted from Adventism the belief in the Second Coming of Christ and the coming of the end times. Jehovah is their almighty god and Jesus Christ their greatest example. With their door-to-door preaching they gain prestige within the community. It is very closed, but it is known that Jehovah’s Witnesses do not vote, do not celebrate Christmas or birthdays and refuse blood transfusions.

In 2017, publications in Trouw showed that sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses is often handled privately and that victims receive no help. After the revelations, hundreds of reports flooded into a reporting center for abuse.

When the religious community made no move to investigate matters themselves, the House of Representatives called for an investigation at the end of 2018. Research leader and professor Kees van den Bos spoke of "a large number of serious reports" that seemed to justify the investigation.

This is the first time that a major investigation into the Jehovah's Witnesses has been conducted in the Netherlands. This should make it clear to what extent the closed culture of the religious community has covered up abuse.

During the investigation, reports were treated confidentially and not shared with the Public Prosecution Service. It also investigates abuse cases itself. Just last year, an ex-Jehovah from Nieuwegein was convicted of abusing his two daughters.

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.