NEARLY 300 REPORTS OF SEXUAL ABUSE AMONG DUTCH JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES

NETHERLANDS
NL Times

By Janene Pieters on May 2, 2018

The number of reports of sexual abuse within the Jehovah’s Witnesses now stands at 267, Reclaimed Voices, a foundation that manages the hotline for this type of abuse, said to newspaper Trouw.

Reclaimed Voices was established last year after Trouw published the stories of a number of Jehovah’s Witnesses who were abused during their youth. One victim called the religious group a “paradise for pedophiles”, because the Jehovah’s Witnesses elders tend to keep sexual abuse quiet. In the first week of its existence, the hotline received nearly 50 sexual abuse reports.

According to the newspaper, the victims of sexual abuse asked the Jehovah’s Witnesses elders for a meeting to discuss this abuse six months ago, but still haven’t heard anything. This has a big affect on the victims, Frank Huiting of Reclaimed Voices said to Trouw. “They are angry, they haven’t known where they stand for some time and feel disappointed about the entire process. They still aren’t being heard, is what it comes down to.”

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