Jehovah’s Witness hierarchy means child sex abuse goes unreported

AUSTRALIA
The Conversation

Jayne Persian
Postdoctoral Research Associate in History at University of Sydney

In 1941, during the second world war, the Menzies government banned Jehovah’s Witnesses. This gave them the distinction of being the only Christian religious body to be banned in Australia during the 20th century.

Over the past week, Jehovah’s Witnesses have again appeared in news headlines after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse cross-examined their leaders and scrutinised their policies.

Who are Jehovah’s Witnesses?

Jehovah’s Witnesses are mostly known in Australia as suburban door-knockers. They grew out of an American Protestant Bible study group established by Charles Taze Russell in the early 1870s. Some of his adherents had arrived in Australia by 1896.

Russell stressed a particular belief that the end of the world was near, and that Christ would destroy all worldly kingdoms and replace them with a paradise earth.

Russell believed that this paradise was open to all who would accept the message. Thus, the sect had a moral and spiritual obligation to spread the word to as many people as possible.

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