Editing Jehovah's Witnesses (section)

===Handling of sexual abuse cases===
{{Main|Jehovah's Witnesses' handling of child sex abuse}}
[[File:CS_54_Jehovah_PublicHearing.jpg|thumb|upright|Case Study of Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia's [[Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse]]]]
Jehovah's Witnesses have been accused of having policies and culture that help to conceal cases of sexual abuse within the organization.<ref name="ousted">{{cite news|last=Goodstein|first=Laurie|title=Ousted members say Jehovah's Witnesses' policy on abuse hides offenses|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 11, 2002|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/11/us/ousted-members-say-jehovah-s-witnesses-policy-on-abuse-hides-offenses.html|access-date=October 1, 2015}}</ref> When investigating cases of child abuse, elders are instructed to immediately call the organization's headquarters or branch office. The group states that this requirement is to ensure compliance with the law.<ref name="Bradley"/> An investigation by the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] determined that elders were asked questions such as, "How many elders believe the victim is to blame or willingly participated in the act?"<ref>{{cite web |title=Jehovah's Witnesses' process for handling child sex abuse allegations keeps authorities in the dark |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/jehovah-witnesses-abuse-1.3874884 |website=CBC News |access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref> Jehovah's Witnesses have been criticized for the "two witness rule" for [[#Disciplinary action|congregational discipline]], based on an application of scriptures in Deuteronomy 19:15 and Matthew 18:15–17, which requires sexual abuse to be substantiated by secondary evidence if the accused person denies wrongdoing.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/Case%20Study%2029%20-%20Transcript%20-%20Jehovahs%20Witnesses%20-%20Day%20152%20-%2004082015.pdf|title=Public Hearing - Case Study 29 (Day 152) |pages=67, 72|website=Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/Case%20Study%2029%20-%20Transcript%20-%20Jehovahs%20Witnesses%20-%20Day%20155%20-%2014082015.pdf|title=Public Hearing - Case Study 29 (Day 155) |pages=44, 45|website=Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australia}}</ref> In cases where corroboration is lacking, the Watch Tower Society's instruction is that "the elders will leave the matter in Jehovah's hands".<ref name="Bradley">{{cite web |last1=Bradley |first1=Amanda |title=The rules and culture that keep child sex offenders hidden from followers of the Jehovah's Witness faith |url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/495876/the-rules-and-culture-that-keep-child-sex-offenders-hidden-from-followers-of-the-jehovah-s-witness-faith |website=RNZ |date=August 16, 2023 |access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref> A former member has said that the policy effectively requires that there be third-party witness to an act of molestation, "which is an impossibility".<ref name="NBC">{{cite news|author1=[[Lisa Myers]]|author2=Richard Greenberg|title=New evidence in Jehovah's Witness allegations|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna21917798|work=[[NBC News]]|location=New York, NY|date=November 21, 2007}}</ref> Jehovah's Witnesses maintain a database of confidential files in regards to child abuse,<ref>{{cite web |title=Jehovah's Witness organisation has secret database of child sex abuse claims against members |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/30/jehovahs-witness-organisation-has-secret-database-child-sex/ |website=The Telegraph |date=June 30, 2022 |access-date=15 December 2024 |last1=Team |first1=Investigations |last2=Barnes |first2=Sophie |last3=Rushton |first3=Katherine |last4=Newell |first4=Claire |last5=Eastham |first5=Janet |last6=Leather |first6=Jack }}</ref> which are marked as "Do Not Destroy". An elder in New Zealand was tasked with destroying "personal notes" in their database when the organization was under investigation for child abuse.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jehovah's Witness elder alleges order to destroy evidence in child sex abuse cases |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/jehovahs-witness-elder-alleges-order-to-destroy-evidence-in-child-sex-abuse-cases/6OAO6IJBANDLLAOE2VXI3DHPXI/ |website=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref> In the United States, the group was fined four thousand dollars daily (accruing a total of two million dollars) for delaying an order to provide its documentation.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Krawcyzk |first1=Kathryn |title=The Jehovah's Witnesses owe $4,000 every day they don't turn over details of alleged child sex abuse. It's cost them $2 million so far. |url=https://theweek.com/speedreads/737910/jehovahs-witnesses-owe-4000-every-day-dont-turn-over-details-alleged-child-sex-abuse-cost-2-million-far |website=The Week |date=November 16, 2017 |access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref>

The group's failure to report abuse allegations to authorities has also been criticized.<ref>{{cite news|last=Jones|first=Ciaran|date=June 29, 2014|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/jehovahs-witnesses-destroyed-documents-showing-7340603|title=Jehovah's Witnesses destroyed documents showing child abuse allegations against church elder|publisher=[[Media Wales]]|location=Cardiff, UK|website=Wales Online}}</ref> The Watch Tower Society's policy is that elders inform authorities when required by law to do so, but otherwise leave that up to the victim and their family.<ref>{{cite report|url=https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/Case%20Study%2029%20-%20Transcript%20-%20Jehovahs%20Witnesses%20-%20Day%20152%20-%2004082015.pdf|title=Public Hearing - Case Study 29 (Day 152)|pages=24–26|website=Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australia}}</ref> In jursidictions with [[priest–penitent privilege]], confessions of abuse may be considered confidential.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Scolforo |first1=Mark |last2=Smith |first2=Peter |title=Child sex abuse investigation of Jehovah's Witnesses fuels speculation |url=https://apnews.com/article/jehovahs-witnesses-child-abuse-pennsylvania-investigation-c08b543d8b0b69e03d3c2eba08526cf0 |website=Associated Press |date=April 19, 2023 |access-date=7 December 2024}}</ref> William Bowen, a former Jehovah's Witness elder who established the [[Silentlambs]] organization to assist sex abuse victims in the denomination, has claimed that Witness leaders discourage followers from reporting incidents of sexual misconduct to authorities. Other critics have alleged that the organization is reluctant to alert authorities to protect its "crime-free" reputation.<ref name="ousted" /><ref>{{cite journal |first=Corrie|last=Cutrer|date=March 5, 2001|journal=Christianity Today|title=Witness leaders accused of shielding molesters|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2001/004/11.23.html}}</ref> However, in response to the charge that their policies "protect pedophiles rather than protect the children",<ref name="NBC"/> the organization has maintained that the best way to protect children is to educate parents; they also say they do not sponsor activities that separate children from parents.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/file-list/Case%20Study%2029%20-%20Findings%20Report%20-%20Jehovahs%20Witnesses.pdf|title=Report of case study no.29|pages=9, 28 |website=Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Australia}}</ref> In court cases in the United Kingdom and the United States, the Watch Tower Society has been found negligent in its protection of children from known sex offenders within the congregation.<ref>{{cite court|litigants=Jane Doe (Candace Conti) v. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York Inc. et al.|court= [[California courts of appeal#First District|California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three]]|date=April 13, 2015 |url=http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/archive/A136641.PDF}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Former Jehovah's Witness Takes on Church Over Sex Abuse Allegations |url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/OPcYn4AiwQE?rel=0&autoplay=1 |format=VIDEO|publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |location=New York, NY|date=March 12, 2015}}</ref> The Society has [[settlement (litigation)|settled]] other child abuse lawsuits out of court, paying $780,000 in one case.<ref name="NBC" /> In 2015, the Australian [[Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse]] found that "there was no evidence before the Royal Commission of the Jehovah's Witness organisation having or not having reported to police any of the 1,006 alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse identified by the organisation since 1950."<ref name="ARCReport">{{Cite web|url=https://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/case-studies/case-study-29-jehovahs-witnesses |title=Case Study 29: Jehovah's Witnesses|date=July 27, 2015|website=Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse}}</ref> The Royal Commission also found that the Watch Tower Society legal department routinely provided incorrect information to elders based on an incorrect understanding of what constitutes a legal obligation to report crimes in Australia.<ref>{{cite report|title=Report of Case Study No. 29|page=62}}</ref><ref>"Case Study 29", Day 153 p.16, 41&mdash;44, ''Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse'', July 2015.]</ref> In 2017, the [[Charity Commission for England and Wales]] began an inquiry into Jehovah's Witnesses' handling of allegations of child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40719773|title=Jehovah's Witnesses let sex offender interrogate victims|website=BBC News|date=July 26, 2017|author=Michael Buchanan|access-date= November 20, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|access-date=November 20, 2017|date=July 26, 2017|title=Decision: Manchester New Moston Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses|website=Charity Commission for England and Wales |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/manchester-new-moston-congregation-of-jehovahs-witnesses-inquiry-report/manchester-new-moston-congregation-of-jehovahs-witnesses}}</ref>{{update inline|date=February 2025}} In 2021, Jehovah's Witnesses in Australia agreed to join the nation's [[National Redress Scheme|redress scheme]] for sexual assault survivors to maintain its charity status there.<ref>{{cite web|access-date=May 25, 2021|first1=Rebecca|last1=Gredley|title=Jehovah's Witnesses to join redress scheme|url=https://7news.com.au/politics/jehovahs-witnesses-to-join-redress-scheme-c-2278906|website=7News|date=March 3, 2021 }}</ref>