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Child safeguarding · Claim record

A Utrecht University study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security (via the WODC) received 751 reports of sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses community; about 80% of respondents had told elders, 27% had reported to police, and 75% were dissatisfied with the internal handling (average 3.3/10), with the researchers attributing problems to the community's closed culture.

Claim ID claim-safeguarding-utrecht-751-reportsConcerns 23 January 2020Independent finding
Independent finding · 23 January 2020 Verified

A Utrecht University study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security (via the WODC) received 751 reports of sexual abuse within the Jehovah's Witnesses community; about 80% of respondents had told elders, 27% had reported to police, and 75% were dissatisfied with the internal handling (average 3.3/10), with the researchers attributing problems to the community's closed culture. Utrecht University news, 23 January 2020WODC (Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum) / Universiteit Utrecht, 23 January 2020DutchNews.nl, 5 August 2020

The organisation’s position or later explanation: The organisation called the report 'scientifically and factually incorrect and defamatory' and sought an injunction; it later argued the State was discriminating by focusing on one community, and said it had not adopted the recommended independent internal hotline.

Show the evidence (3 sources)
Peer-reviewed / scholarly Verified

Utrecht University news, “Discontent among part of Jehovah's Witnesses about internal handling of abuse complaints”

23 January 2020 · Universiteit Utrecht

“751 participants shared their experiences”

Through a contact point set up by the university. Of respondents, about 80% had reported to elders and 27% had filed a police report; 75% were dissatisfied with the internal handling (average score 3.3/10) against 6.4/10 for the police. The team, led by Professor Kees van den Bos, recommended an internal reporting centre with trained staff, elder training, annual reporting and consideration of mandatory reporting; it stressed the findings are not claimed to be fully representative.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Page opened; figures confirmed.

Corroborated by. src-wodc-2020-0123-utrecht-report, src-dutchnews-2020-0805-report-stays-online

Notes. DutchNews (5 Aug 2020) gives the split as 292 reporting their own abuse and 459 reporting someone else's.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-uu-2020-0123-news-release

Peer-reviewed / scholarly Supported

WODC (Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek- en Documentatiecentrum) / Universiteit Utrecht, “Seksueel misbruik en aangiftebereidheid binnen de gemeenschap van Jehova's getuigen (Sexual abuse and willingness to report within the Jehovah's Witnesses community)”

23 January 2020 · Kees van den Bos et al. (Universiteit Utrecht) · WODC, Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid (repository handle 20.500.12832/2450)

“Seksueel misbruik en aangiftebereidheid binnen de gemeenschap van de Jehova's Getuigen”

Title as cited in the Dutch court's ruling of 23 January 2020, which records that the report was accepted by the WODC director on 11 December 2019 after unanimous positive advice from its supervisory committee. Commissioned by the WODC at the request of the Ministry of Justice and Security following a parliamentary motion; published 23 January 2020.

Official source Link not auto-checkable

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. The report PDF itself was not opened (the WODC repository serves a JavaScript application to automated fetches; the item was confirmed via the repository's search API). Its findings are taken from Utrecht University's release and the court and parliamentary records, all opened.

Corroborated by. src-uu-2020-0123-news-release, src-rbmne-2020-0123-kort-geding, src-tk-2020-0127-kamerbrief-dekker

Notes. An English summary exists in the repository (3010_summary). The English summary of the report is published alongside the Dutch original.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-wodc-2020-0123-utrecht-report

Reputable reporting Verified

DutchNews.nl, “Jehovah's Witness sexual abuse report can stay online, judge rules”

5 August 2020 · DutchNews.nl

“the government is guilty of discrimination because it is focusing solely on one religious community”

The organisation's position as reported. The article gives the report's figures (751 reports; 292 from victims themselves) and notes the organisation said it had provided pastoral care for years but had not implemented the recommended 'central internal independent hotline'.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Article opened.

Corroborated by. src-uu-2020-0810-appeal-news

Notes. Reporting-tier; use for the organisation's stated response only.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-dutchnews-2020-0805-report-stays-online

Claim page

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