AUSTRALIA: Case Study 54: Stewart’s Introduction
This is the Royal Commission’s 54th Case Study. It follows the Royal Commission’s inquiry into the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watchtower Australia in Case Study 29. That case study concerned the responses of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Watchtower Australia to allegations, reports and complaints of child sexual abuse within the organisation. Case Study 29 took place in […]
USA: Stephanie Fessler v Watch Tower
Stephanie Fessler is a former Jehovah’s Witness and a victim of child sexual abuse. On Tuesday, February 7 2017 starting at 11am, she will have a trial by jury in Pennsylvania against defendants Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the Christian Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Inc., Spring Grove Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and her […]
Literature Litter
I was born in 1977. I am a fifth generation Jehovah’s Witness on my mother’s side. I’m a third generation on my father’s side. This doesn’t include overlapping generations! My great grandma’s uncle was of the “Anointed”. He was a “Colporteur” of the tens and twenties of the 20th Century. My great grandma died out in service […]
Child Abuse Policy Comparison
On August 1 2016, Jehovah’s Witnesses made a worldwide release of a Child Abuse policy letter to all Bodies of Elders. This letter is to replace the October 1 2012 letter. But what are the main differences between these two letters? Here is a comparison of both letters. Text in blue are notations from avoidjw.org to assist […]
Selfish
I don’t want to do this anymore. I never did. This is not love. This is not fun – the game you play. You’re taking away pieces of me, that I will have to fight to regain. Please stop being selfish; by continuing to hurt me. You can still be a good person. You just […]
Deaf, Abused & Shunned
This is the true story of Jayne Foreman. She is a deaf woman who was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. From the age of 8, I was brought up as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Back then, I could never understand Jehovah’s Witnesses. This was because I was deaf. And I was in a congregation where there was no interpreter. […]
AUSTRALIA: ARC Child Sexual Abuse – The Bare Facts
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has been holding public hearings in Sydney, Australia. These public hearings began on Monday July 27 2015 for the church of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Jehovah’s Witnesses are referred to as Case Study 29. The scope and purpose of the public hearing was to inquire into: The experience of survivors […]
And What Happened Next Was Simply Unbelievable!
I always sit in the same spot, just outside Starbucks in a vestibule area with a table in the air-conditioned space. I say “always,” but not today. Somebody with two laptops and a table filled with business ledgers was in “my” favorite spot! So, I took a tiny wooden table inside the coffee shop on […]
Escaping Hell
I was less than two years of age when my mother became involved with Jehovah’s Witnesses. I saw my mother get baptized when I was two years old. She always told me that from that point on, I wanted to get baptized. Thinking back now, I’m sure that I just wanted to go swimming. After all, […]