Rebekah Vardy, wife of England and Leicester City football star Jamie Vardy, has accused Jehovah’s Witnesses of having covered up the sexual abuse she suffered as a child and claims the church failed to protect other children from predatory men within the organization. She opens up about childhood abuse and being shunned by the religious group.
Written by Jason Wynne on May 14, 2023 at 11pm.
LONDON: Rebekah Vardy, who is best known for being the wife of English footballer Jamie Vardy, and also at the center of the Wagatha Christie trial, reveals all in a new Channel 4 documentary entitled, Rebekah Vardy: Jehovah’s Witnesses and Me.
Vardy, whose mother was a Jehovah’s Witnesse, claims that when she was in her early teens congregation elders refused to inform the police after she told them that she had been sexually abused.
“What happened to me during my childhood still affects me every single day. From the age of around 12 years old, I was being abused and instead of being supported, I was blamed.
“I was told that I had misinterpreted the abuse for a form of affection. I knew I hadn’t. I was well aware of what was right and what was wrong, but I was manipulated into believing that it wasn’t right to take it to the police.
“It’s hard to see how I survived that. No one valued me enough to protect me,” she says in tears.
In the documentary, Vardy returns to Norwich, England, where several family members still live as Jehovah’s Witnesses and with whom she has little or no contact with since leaving the religious group.
She recalls her Jehovah’s Witnesses childhood devoid of Christmas and birthdays, consumed with bible studies and attending kingdom hall services, the places of worship for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
At 11 years of age, after her parents had divorced, she experiences shunning from the religious community.
“I think that’s where my real resentment to religion started, being made to feel so bad, different.”
Vardy meets with other former believing Jehovah’s Witnesses during the making of the program.
Ali, a former member from Scotland details her experience within a judicial committee meeting after being unfaithful to congregation elders.
Laura, a former member from Northern Ireland, tells Vardy about the sexual abuse she experienced at the hands of another congregation member when she was only 8 years old.
Ms Vardy meets with Julia, a mother of a young man who committed suicide after being disfellowshipped from the religious group for smoking.
She speaks too to two former congregation elders and a man in Ireland who has amassed thousands of secret documents detailing the inner workings of the organization.
Vardy urges young people who may feel trapped in the organization like she did to seek outside help. “Find someone you can trust, someone outside the organization. The Jehovah’s Witnesses only care about what’s right for them.”
Rebekah Vardy: Jehovah’s Witnesses and Me airs on Channel 4 on Tuesday Night, May 16th 2023, at 10 pm British Standard Time.