From Netflix to Hollywood celebrities, the world is buzzing with stories of survival from high-control groups and cults. While the groups ignore or head to court to stop disclosures, victims and survivors tell their stories of abuse, loss of family relationships and abandonment by friends. Shunning is a Crime is a new movement gaining traction. It was started by a …
I am married to a person who was a Jehovah’s Witness. She left when she was in her twenties but has many family members still in the organization. My main experience has been with her mother who is required by the organization to shun her daughter. There have been a few occasions when her mother has broken the rules and …
My earliest memories of the Jehovah’s Witnesses date back to when I was a young child, just before I started school. Our childhood home was visited by proselytizing JWs. Growing up with my grandparents, I observed my grandmother’s typically friendly demeanor; yet, she strictly forbade me from engaging with ‘those people.’ Transitioning into early adulthood, my curiosity led me to …
During my formative years, my parents joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses church. Their affiliation led to my initiation into the faith through baptism at the ridiculously young age of twelve. My spiritual journey progressed steadily, culminating in my appointment as an “elder” at the age of twenty. Subsequently, during my early twenties, I dedicated five years to serving as a full-time …
A comment often heard from excommunicated members of high-control groups is they have sinned and deserve the punishment of mandated shunning. It never occurs to them that they may be the victim. That they have induced group phobias related to sexual norms and the group’s coercive ideology may not be “the truth”. To members still in the group, the person …
In a letter dated January 26th 2015, addressed to the Public Prosecutor in Ghent, Belgium, Patrick Haeck and about 15 other brave ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses took the initiative to file a complaint against the shunning policy of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The complaint mentioned that the behaviour towards disfellowshipped and disassociated members of this community was a violation of multiple Belgian laws: A thorough investigation …
On June 30, 2023, Jehovah’s Witnesses (JWs), one of six well-known religious groups that practice mandated shunning, lost their second appeal in their demand for a temporary injunction so they could continue to receive an annual financial grant of about 1.5 million dollars a year. They lost this right when their registration as a Norwegian religious community was revoked, effective January 1, 2021. …
