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Child safeguarding · Claim record

Before about 1998 the organisation's process required a complainant of child sexual abuse to make the allegation in the presence of the alleged abuser; the 2010 handbook still appeared to require this for 'wrongdoing' generally, and the organisation's written policy now states elders 'never require victims of child abuse to present their accusation in the presence of the alleged abuser'.

Claim ID claim-safeguarding-complainant-required-to-face-abuserConcerns 1998Outcome
Outcome · 1998 Verified

Before about 1998 the organisation's process required a complainant of child sexual abuse to make the allegation in the presence of the alleged abuser; the 2010 handbook still appeared to require this for 'wrongdoing' generally, and the organisation's written policy now states elders 'never require victims of child abuse to present their accusation in the presence of the alleged abuser'. Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, October 2016Jehovah's Witnesses' Scripturally Based Position on Child Protection (cpt-E 9/25), September 2025Charity Commission for England and Wales, 26 July 2017

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation said it was 'not an evidential requirement that a child or adult survivor confront their abuser' and there had been 'some confusion' at the hearing ( par. 5.16).

Show the evidence (3 sources)
Official public record Verified

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, “Report of Case Study No. 29: The response of the Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Australia Ltd to allegations of child sexual abuse”

October 2016 · pp.1-110 (ISBN 978-1-925289-89-3) · pp. 10-12, 14, 24-25, 58-70, 75-78 · The Hon. Justice Peter McClellan AM (Chair); Professor Helen Milroy (Commissioner) · Commonwealth of Australia

“Although the position is not clear in relation to a few files, there is otherwise no evidence before the Royal Commission of the Jehovah's Witness organisation having reported to police or other secular authority a single one of the 1,006 alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse recorded in the case files held by Watchtower Australia.”

P. 60. Other key passages: p. 58 (files since 1950 record allegations against 1,006 members; 579 admissions; at least 1,800 alleged victims); p. 59 ('The numbers tell their own story'); p. 61 ('We are satisfied that it is the general practice of the Jehovah's Witness organisation in Australia not to report allegations of child sexual abuse to the police or other authorities unless required to do so by law'); p. 65 (two-witness rule: 'retention of and continued application of the rule to a complaint of child sexual abuse is wrong'); p. 67 (men-only decision-making is 'a fundamental flaw'); p. 69 ('places children within the organisation at significant risk'); p. 70 (BCG 'completely shunned, ostracised and actively avoided'); p. 77 ('We do not consider the Jehovah's Witness organisation to be an organisation which responds adequately to child sexual abuse').

Official source Scan of original Link not auto-checkable

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. The official Royal Commission host could not be reached from this environment (TLS renegotiation failure / timeouts), so the NZ-hosted copy of the same Commonwealth publication was downloaded and text-extracted; all quotations verbatim with printed page numbers. Tabled in Parliament 28 November 2016.

Scan provenance. Copy of the Commonwealth publication (CC BY 3.0 AU) held in the New Zealand Abuse in Care Royal Commission evidence library; identical ISBN and pagination to the official release.

Corroborated by. src-wt-subs-2015-1109-royal-commission, src-arc-2015-0814-day155-transcript

Notes. Public hearing 27 July-5 August and 14 August 2015, Sydney. Survivors identified only as BCG and BCB. Also on parlinfo.aph.gov.au as a tabled paper.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-arc-2016-1000-cs29-report

Primary JW publication Verified

Jehovah's Witnesses' Scripturally Based Position on Child Protection (cpt-E 9/25), “Jehovah's Witnesses' Scripturally Based Position on Child Protection”

September 2025 · pp.1-2 · pars. 3-5, 11-15 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania (jw.org)

“Elders comply with child abuse reporting laws. When elders learn of an allegation of child abuse, they immediately consult with the branch office of Jehovah's Witnesses for legal advice on proper reporting procedure and for the protection of children. (Romans 13:1) Even in jurisdictions with no reporting requirements, the branch office of Jehovah's Witnesses will instruct the elders to report the matter if the victim or another minor is in danger of abuse.”

Paragraph 5 of the organisation's current public child-protection statement. Par. 3 says elders 'do not shield any perpetrator of child abuse from the authorities'; par. 4 that anyone reporting to elders is told they are free to report to the authorities; par. 11 describes the internal investigation as 'a purely religious proceeding'; par. 12 says elders 'never require victims of child abuse to present their accusation in the presence of the alleged abuser'; par. 14 says an abuser does not qualify for privileges 'for decades, if ever'; par. 15 says the document is reviewed at least every three years.

Official source Scan of original

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened the jw.org landing page and downloaded the official PDF (cpt_E.pdf, 176,911 bytes, dated 2025-11-19 in the CDN metadata but bearing the print code 9/25). Text extracted locally and quoted verbatim. Note the document does not use the phrase 'two witnesses' at all.

Scan provenance. Official PDF served by jw.org's own CDN (resolved via the page's GETPUBMEDIALINKS API, pub=cpt); document code 'cpt-E 9/25'.

Corroborated by. src-cpt-2020-1200-child-protection-position-nz, src-w-2019-0500-love-justice-wickedness

Notes. IICSA recorded the first edition as published 2018. The NZ Royal Commission copy is the 12/20 edition; wording of par. 5 changed between 12/20 and 9/25 (see the NZ entry).

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-cpt-2025-0900-child-protection-position

Official public record Verified

Charity Commission for England and Wales, “Manchester New Moston Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses: inquiry report”

26 July 2017 · Findings; Conclusions · Charity Commission (gov.uk)

“Mr Rose was permitted to cross-examine at [sic] individuals whom he had been convicted of indecently assaulting”

The Charity Commission’s inquiry report into the congregation’s handling of safeguarding. The report records that the individual concerned had been convicted in 2013 of indecent assault and imprisoned, and that the trustees did not engage openly and candidly with the Commission.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. gov.uk report page opened; quotations confirmed.

Corroborated by. src-cc-2017-0726-press-release-manchester, src-iicsa-2021-0902-religious-organisations-report

Notes. The regulator's report names the individual; this site does not, because the finding does not depend on the name.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-cc-2017-0726-manchester-new-moston-inquiry

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-safeguarding-complainant-required-to-face-abuser/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.