Sexual Abuse Within Kingdom Halls

It seems all too common today to hear about sexual abuse within religious organizations when the news is turned on. Recently, sexual abuse cases within the Jehovah’s Witness have been brought to light and legal action has been taken against the community. One particular case is that of Moriah Smith, who decided to leave the faith when the elders of the church turned her back on her after she reported sexual abuse of another church member. Others have spoke out as well, telling their stories and displaying how the manner that the organization deals with these problems reveals a disturbing pattern.

Moriah Smith was fourteen when it happened. When Elihu Rodriguez a twenty-five year old man from within her congregation, had sex with her in her own home. A home that was also the house of her father, who was a respected elder. This and more sex abuse followed for the next three months. She struggled with panic attacks along with being ashamed and confused about what was happening, and did not tell anyone what was going on. “’I didn’t understand anything about sex’” said Smith, saying she was also afraid of disappointing god and being shunned (Chuck).

The Jehovah’s Witness church has always been considered at moderately closed community that can often see outsiders as suspicious. So, when it comes to these types of situations, they often try to handle them internally. Accusations within the church require two witnesses to prove guilt of someone along with other literal interpretations of the bible. The Jehovah’s Witnesses official guidelines for dealing with these huge issues is, to contact the branch office, and ensure child abuse law is upheld. “’Even if the elders have no legal duty to report an accusation to the authorities, the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses will instruct the elders to report the matter if a minor is still in danger of abuse or there is some other valid reason’” (Chuck).

When Smith eventually worked up the courage to tell someone what had happened to her, her and her family had moved to a different community. She approached three elders and explained what had gone on at her previous congregation. Instead of following any of the guidelines, they accused her of not putting the faith first and quietly took away certain privileges. She described the elders using the Bible to shame her for what she had done, and the church never took action against Elihu. On top of this her fears of being shunned came true. After her parents found out, they cut off contact with her to avoid threatening their own faith.

There are other victims’ stories that parallel what happened to Smith. In many cases try to cover it up. As for the ones that do take action, even though they are supposed to report it, there are no set guidelines for scenarios like this. The people in charge decide what to do as they go so they can’t be held to a standard.  Since these events took place, Smith has left the faith and is currently taking legal action in hopes that she can help protect children in the future. Cases like this are tragic and it seems like more and more of them are being brought to light recently. We are sad to hear about them, but it is good we are hearing about them, because the only way to help end these horrible occurrences is brave women like Smith, who ignore the people who want to keep their stories quiet and bring them into the light.

 

Work Cited

Chuck, Elizabeth. “Jehovah’s Witnesses ‘use the Bible to victim-shame,’ sex abuse survivor says”. NBC News. Oct. 7. 2018. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/jehovah-s-witnesses-use-bible-victim-shame-sex-abuse-survivor-n916326