All language subtitles for Rebekah.Vardy.Jehovahs.Witnesses.And.Me.2023.1080p.WEB.H264-CBFM

This programme has references
to suicide and sexual abuse

My name is Rebekah Vardy, and
most people probably know me as

the wife of a Premier League
footballer

and recently a bit of
a controversial character

from THAT trial.

But what you may not know is
I was brought up in a strict

and controlling religious
organisation.

You know, we were told that
the world was going to end.

And I grew up very aware
of what we were being taught,

and very afraid.

What happened to me
during my childhood

still affects me every single day.

From the ages of around
12 years old, I was being abused.

And instead of being supported,
I was blamed.

Manipulated into believing

it wasn't the best thing
to take it to the police.

I spent the first 15 years
of my life as a Jehovah's Witness.

Now I want to know
how this organisation

was able to control my family,
and to finally get answers

to the questions I've had
my whole life.

Often poked fun at
in popular culture,

most people think of
the Jehovah's Witnesses as

those harmless Christians
that knock on your door

wanting to talk about God.

Yes? Hello.

We were wondering if we could
talk to you about Jesus.

LAUGHTER

But what do we really know
about them?

They operate under
a strict hierarchy

topped by nine men known as
the governing body,

based at their recently built
worldwide headquarters

in Warwick, New York,

shown in their online videos.

They have over 8 million members
worldwide

with the UK home to around 130,000.

They run a prolific media empire

based around their
Watchtower magazines

and glossy online videos,

driven towards increasing their
congregation numbers worldwide.

When I was young, I remember
being shown upsetting pictures

of the end of the world
in my Bible study books.

And I believed that
if I wasn't perfect,

I would die at Armageddon.

The minute you can read,
you can read this book.

I mean, it's available
for everyone.

There's no age limit.

This one, I still have nightmares
over now.

This is called "Revelation."

Really scary.

Nowadays, they use dramatic
and forceful videos

to warn of an imminent Armageddon

when any non-Jehovah's Witnesses
will be destroyed.

God's kingdom represented
by that stone

will crush all human governments
at Armageddon.

It's also a religion that's
repeatedly faced allegations

of child sex abuse,

prompting worldwide inquiries
into its child protection
practices.

Victims have begun to
speak out about

how the organisation
has handled this.

And I'm one of them.

You know, I was a child when
the things happened to me.

And there's so many questions that
I have that are not answered.

And I think because there were
so many restrictions put on us

as children, shaped me to becoming
quite rebellious as a teenager.

Go on! Yes!

You know, that's some of the things
that I'm hoping to kind of

get from doing this,
is where do the decisions come from?

Who makes the decisions?

And, you know, what authority do
these people have

or do they just make it up
as they go along?

Some of the rules and regulations
of this particular religion are...

..questionable, to say the least.

I'm returning to Norwich,
the city I grew up in,

and where many of my family
still live as Jehovah's Witnesses.

I've not had much contact
with my family

since I left the religion
at the age of 15,

and I haven't been back here
for almost ten years.

I think it's going to be a bit
strange seeing some of the things

that I remember,

but also some of the things
that I've tried to form

quite a comfortable distance with
as well.

Oh, my God, I used to go down here
when I was a child.

Going door knocking,
always praying that

someone from school
wasn't going to open the door.

I always knew I was different
growing up.

We didn't celebrate birthdays
or Christmas

and we were told we wouldn't be
allowed a blood transfusion

if we got sick.

This is so strange!

My first stop is my old
Kingdom Hall,

the place of worship
for my congregation.

This was the epicentre of mine
and my family's life,

where we used to come for services
and Bible studies twice a week.

I remember parking around the corner
and then walk in

through those double doors,

the toilets were on
the left-hand side, I think.

There was three different rows
of chairs sat out.

And I would imagine there would have
probably been around 100,

150 members of the organisation

in that congregation.

So these will all be going off
on their service rounds.

And this was my parents' life.

This was my grandparents' life.

My grandad was an elder
in the congregation.

He was well-known, well liked,

renowned for his belief
in the faith.

It's weird to think my nan
still comes up here.

I've not seen her for years either.

You would have to do things
to keep Jehovah happy

because he was always watching.

He was always watching who you spoke
to, how you spoke, how you dressed,

how you held yourself,

how you conducted
every part of your whole life.

And we were told
if we didn't pray enough,

bad things would happen to us.

But weirdly enough, as I was stood
looking at that sign, I felt guilty.

I think the guilt comes from
going against everything

that I was taught, everything that
you're taught not to do, I'm doing.

Speaking out, questioning.

Bringing the religion's name down.

And talking about, I guess,
what goes on behind closed doors,

because it's a very
secretive community.

It's a very secretive religion.

Not many people know what goes on
through those gates.

Do you not know that friendship
with the world is enmity with God?

Whoever therefore wants to be
a friend of the world

is making himself an enemy of God.

Every month, the most senior members
of the Jehovah's Witnesses,

known as the governing body, upload
lengthy sermons to their website

to be watched by congregations
worldwide.

I find some of these videos
concern him because they teach

that non-believers, also known
as worldly people,

are enemies of Jehovah
and should be avoided.

We don't want to have any
friendship, whether socially

or on social networks,
with Jehovah's enemies.

So our friends growing up were all
members of Jehovah's Witnesses.

They were all part of
our congregation.

And, yeah, from a very early age,
you know,

we were made to feel that
we were different.

We used to get bullied.

We used to get picked on,
called names, Jo-Hos,

Bible Bashers, Door Knockers.

At the same time, early childhood
was living in

a false sense of security.

You know, the one place that
you didn't feel judged

and different was at the Kingdom
Halls and going to the meetings

because everyone was in
the same boat,

or at least you thought.

And it wasn't until things
started going wrong

within our family unit...

..that that bubble did burst.

And actually the people
that you thought were there

to protect you and to support you
and be like your brother and sister

were actually not there at all.

Our congregation was a close-knit
community,

led by the most senior members of
the church known as the elders,

As well as leading the services,

elders would provide
spiritual guidance,

and we were taught to fear
and respect them.

We had to go to them first
with all our problems,

no matter how personal.

So this was where I grew up
with my mum and my dad

and my sister.

And I remember my mum and my dad

were really going through
a tough time.

There's a lot of arguing,
a lot of, you know, upset.

Whenever there was a problem,

the elders would try and intervene.

You know, they'd always be in...
in the downstairs lounge

while us kids were usually
in our bedroom,

um...trying
to calm situations down, and...

And I think one of my last memories
of here

was it all kicking off and then...

Yeah. And I think we left
one night and never came back.

Sorry...

I was only 11
when my parents split up

and my mum moved us out of this
house and out of Norwich.

I've never understood the reasons,

but in the eyes of the Jehovah's
Witnesses, my mother had sinned.

We were then shunned by our friends
and our family was divided.

I've had a difficult relationship
with my mum all my adult life,

and we've been estranged
for the last seven years.

So I never asked her what happened
between her and my dad

or what role the Jehovah's Witnesses
played in the end of their marriage.

To understand more about the way
the organisation handles divorce,

I've come to meet Ali Millar,

who was born into the religion

but left in 2009
after experiencing

a similar devastating
family breakdown.

I think the public perception
of Jehovah's Witness

is quite character-like, isn't it?

But also they have such
a clever disconnect

between who they are publicly

and who they are privately

and it's strictly hierarchical.

The elders are in charge of
the congregation

and you are told as a woman that the
husband is the head of the family.

He can basically dictate
whatever he wants to, to the wife.

Like many Christians, the Jehovah's
Witnesses believe

marriage is sacred and permanent.

But unlike in other religions,

divorce is only allowed in the eyes
of God in cases of adultery.

I was married at 21
and it was a difficult marriage.

And then when I was 27,

I decided that
I wanted to leave the marriage

and I had what they would
class as an affair.

And that was when three elders
came up to my house

with my husband present,
who was a very controlling man.

And they said that
he couldn't leave the room.

He had to be there
while I had to confess in detail

to what had happened.

And then the elders left
and they left me alone with him.

That's very similar,
because my dad and my mum split up

and I remember things like that
as well,

being interrogated by elders.

You know,
they were always involved.

Whenever my mum and dad had issues,
you were never allowed to

deal with it
outside the congregation.

It was always internally dealt with.

On the Sunday, one of the elders
got up on the platform

and they didn't name names,

but they basically told
the whole of the congregation

what I had told them
in complete confidence.

And it wasn't really very hard
for people to guess who it was.

I was a vulnerable woman
and nobody said, "Are you OK?"

They said, "We're going to
judge you for that."

People just stopped speaking to me.

And my mother said that
she had to remain loyal to Jehovah

and her loyalty to Jehovah meant
that she couldn't see me any more.

That's absolutely heartbreaking.

The Jehovah's Witness organisation
told us it is...

They also said they...

I think having met Ali,
it's helped me understand...

..the roles in the religion more.

And actually, probably one of
the reasons why my mum and dad

split up was because
my mum had an affair.

Um... Well, I'm guessing
that's what...that's what happened,

because that's the only way
in a Jehovah's Witness organisation

that you can,
in their eyes, divorce.

But I soon realised that there was
something that had happened,

something that she had done...

..that wasn't acceptable,

that was frowned upon.

And that she must pay the price for.

After my parents' divorce, my mum
was what they call disfellowshipped

from the Jehovah's Witnesses.

As a result, we were rejected
by family members

and the congregation,
who I believe were forbidden

from associating with us.

This is called shunning,
and although it's not illegal,

it's one of the most controversial
practices within the organisation.

I think I was about 11.
I hated life.

We lost communication
with my nan and my grandad.

They were no longer able
to come and visit us.

I just formed so much resentment,

so much resentment to
both my parents, really.

And I think that's where my real
resentment for religion started,

was being made to feel so bad,
so different.

To try and understand
what happened to my mum,

I've managed to track down
two former members

who held senior positions within
the Jehovah's Witnesses

and were responsible for
disfellowshipping many people.

Duncan Corbett and John Viney
were elders for several decades

before choosing to reject
the organisation

and speak out against its
practices.

Can you just tell me,
how did you become elders?

Who ultimately gives you
the so-called privilege?

Like everything inside
Jehovah's Witnesses,

it's all internal. It's kind of
an old boys' club, really,

if you want to put a label on it.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe
you're appointed by Holy Spirit.

So once you're appointed,

your authority
really can't be challenged

because people...
people who are appointed by God,

well, you better do what they say.

What are the rule books?

Who...who creates this?

OK, I'm guessing
it's a group of men again...

Good guess! ..but do you have a
specific book if you need help?

This one.
Yeah, I recognise that one. Yeah.

So my grandad was...
You've seen the elders' book?

Yeah, I have. Wow.
Well, my grandad was an elder.

I always used to look because

this was what was the sacred book,
wasn't it? Very sacred.

No-one was allowed to look at it

apart from elders.
Apart from elders.

Basically, this is an instruction
manual for every scenario

you might come up.

How should I respond

if somebody is accused of doing
something wrong, some kind of sin?

I think twice I've been on
judicial committees

that resulted in
someone being disfellowshipped.

So, talk to me about being
disfellowshipped.

How do you get to the point
where you're shunned?

So, at the point
where a judicial committee decides

this person is not repentant,

an announcement is made
to the congregation.

"This person is no longer
one of Jehovah's Witnesses."

And every member of the congregation
then would be expected

to shun that person.

You know, that's family members
as well.

When my two daughters were
disfellowshipped,

and I had to cut them off,
you've got to be prepared mentally

to completely view them as dead.

And if they ring you up,

you're supposed to put
the phone down.

Jehovah's Witnesses still call it
a loving arrange...

Jehovah's Loving Arrangement, but
it's nothing loving...

There's nothing loving about that.
It's horrendous.

And all while
they're disfellowshipped,

they're still expected to
attend meetings.

I know from personal experience
with my family.

It's just a horrendous experience,

and all that is in an attempt
to make you even more repentant

for whatever sin you've caused

to bring you back into the religion,

to be reinstated as quickly
as physically possible,

because they want to show you
what you've lost.

And I would say, you know,
if you want to ask the question,

is this a high control religion?

I would say, that's one of the key
questions you should be asking

about any organisation.

How...how do you leave?

And if there is no gracious way
to leave with family and friends'

relationships intact,
then, yeah, that's high control.

To me, religion is not
about control.

It's not about
being afraid to leave a religion

for fear of losing
your whole entire life.

And I think that's why
so many people do stay in it.

So I've managed to get a copy
of the elders' handbook

that Duncan and John showed me.

It's not something that
a normal, everyday member

of the organisation would be able
to get hold of.

This is specific to elders
and elders only.

And it's quite fascinating because
it includes a list of rules...

..that you could be
disfellowshipped for,

and sins that wouldn't be tolerated.

Immoral conversations over
the telephone or the internet,

including sexting.

Misuse of tobacco, drunkenness,

gluttony, obscene speech.

You know, these seem
really quite minor offences.

A lot of it's based on
the elders' discretion.

And where does he make
his judgment from?

There's nothing that they
specifically have to go through

to get that job.

You know, good people are being
judged by unqualified members of

the religious hierarchy.

And by being greedy
or gambling or swearing,

you risk losing everything.

The Jehovah's Witnesses
told us that

the essence of the elders' handbook
is available on their website.

Very little research has been done

on the impact
of being disfellowshipped.

So I've decided to contact a network
of 1,200 former Jehovah's Witnesses

to see if I can gather some data on
how their lives have been affected

since leaving the organisation.

188 responded to our survey
and the results were shocking.

Over 80% of respondents,

155 people, said
they had mental health conditions

as a result of leaving
the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Over half told us
they had suicidal thoughts.

We put these statistics to the
head of the Jehovah's Witnesses

at their Chelmsford headquarters,
also known as Bethel. They said...

They also told us in relation
to shunning

once a member is disfellowshipped...

And there is no change
in the social relationship

between immediate family members.

They said...

"And it is false to say they live
cloistered lives

"and simply misleading
and discriminatory

"to imply that our religion
is 'controlling.'"

We've found a case of shunning
that had devastating consequences.

I've come to Glastonbury
to meet with Julia,

who's speaking publicly
for the first time

about what happened to her son.

Hi, Becky. Hi, Julia.

Good to see you. You too.

Come on in.

Brought up in
a non-religious family,

Lewis converted to the
Jehovah's Witness Organisation

at the age of 19,

after falling in love with a woman
from America who he met online.

I'd love to start off by learning
a bit more about your son Lewis.

What was he like growing up?

So he was his own little character.

He was a bit of a loner.

Found it hard to sort of
make a group of friends, really.

Easily led, probably.

He was a worrier.

He did worry about things.

Did you notice a big change
in Lewis

after he had become
a Jehovah's Witness?

Yes.

He thought that he had to set
a very good example

and be as perfect as he could be,

and live every day according to it.

Otherwise, he's not serving Jehovah
and not being a good witness.

After seven years living in America,

Lewis and his wife returned to the
UK and joined a local congregation

of Jehovah's Witnesses
in Glastonbury.

But he was under extreme pressure
to earn enough money to provide

for his wife
and get her a British visa.

And Julia began to worry about
her son's mental health.

He was working two jobs
and he wasn't sleeping

and he was working all hours.

And then if they had an argument,

he would sort of disappear,
take himself off.

He just couldn't cope.

And we did a couple of times
have to say he was a missing person.

So that was quite scary
when he started doing that,

and started self-harming.

Did he get support
from Jehovah's Witnesses?

Well, I thought it was because
he had like, brothers, an elder,

I knew that they were the people
that he would go to.

And I just felt relieved that
he had a group of people

that he felt he belonged to,

because I think
that's important in life.

I didn't realise
a lot of what goes on in there.

Yeah. But, yeah,

it did become too much.

He'd have a drink trying to get to
sleep and then he started smoking.

And with his smoking,
did he confess?

Yeah, because he knew
he had to be honest.

At one point he had a couple
of weeks to give up smoking

or they were going to kick him out.

I don't think they were worried
about the fact that

he was cutting himself or, you know,
the other things that were going on.

They were more worried
that he was smoking.

In the elders' manual,
Shepherd, the Flock of God,

smoking and drinking is classed
as a sin.

And after failing to give up smoking
within their timeframe,

Lewis was disfellowshipped, but was
still expected to attend meetings.

It's almost like you're sat
in the corner in shame, you know,

knowing that these people that
you thought were your friends

aren't allowed to speak to you
all of a sudden.

Yeah, I remember that all too well.

No, we're not gonna
support you any more.

We're not gonna be your friends.
Not gonna even talk to you.

No. That's cruel.

It is. It's barbaric, really, yeah.

It was a Sunday morning.

I was in bed and there was a knock
on the door and I looked out

and it was quite dark and
I could just make out one person.

So I came downstairs, didn't even
notice that he had like

a policeman sort of thing on.

And he came in and sat down
and said that

Lewis had hanged himself
in the night.

I said to him, "How ridiculous.

"How could you be so ridiculous to
come and tell me this has happened

"before you go and check out
the facts?"

And he had to say to me...

Well, he said to me several times,
"It is Lewis. It is Lewis."

So I think just in complete denial.

I think we never think things
like that

are going to happen to
our family. No.

Oh, bless you. I'm so sorry. Yeah.

I used to tell him
to write things down.

I said, "When you're struggling,
write things down."

So he'd write down about the Bible

and how you're supposed to live
and things like that.

It says, "I'm not sure if Jehovah
cares about me

"staying in his organisation

"or even on his earth any more.

"If I stay alive,
I'll carry on letting Jehovah down."

It says "I'm sinful.

"And will be until I'm in paradise.

"So why the pressure
to be perfect now?

"It seems like it wouldn't really
matter to them if I were gone.

"You've all let me down,
treated me as disposable."

To think that that's how he felt

and knowing how unconfident
he was anyway,

and he had very low self-esteem.

What was quite painful was that...

..the friends who knew me

and who knew Lewis's struggle,

even they as friends,

didn't come to his funeral
or come and see me.

That's terrible.
Yeah, that...was quite hard,

I thought.

The Jehovah's Witnesses said that
they don't have the information

to comment on individual cases,

but deny the implication

that their beliefs relating to
so-called shunning

cause or contribute to suicide.

This is Wearyall Hill.

This is where me and the boys used
to come after school in the summer

and run about and run down the hill.

And this is where we decided to
scatter Lewis's ashes.

That's lovely. Because, yeah,
it's quite special to us.

When I go outside and see the birds
and the trees and that,

I think, well, he's just part of...
It's just back to nature now.

And I like to imagine him
on this bench

just looking at the view,
and that gives me comfort.

There's one part of
my early teens that

I still don't have answers about.

I was sexually abused.

And while I've spoken about
some of this before,

I've never talked about the way
it was dealt with by my family

and by the Jehovah's Witness
Organisation.

And it's the one thing
that's affected my life

more than anything else.

From the ages of around
12 years old, I was being abused.

So I told my mum about the abuse
that I was experiencing.

She cried.

But didn't believe me.

Told numerous members of my family,

the Jehovah's Witness community.

And they called a meeting.

I think I was about 15.

And I was told... Well, actually

it was suggested, it was put to me
that I had misinterpreted

the abuse for a form of affection.

I knew that I hadn't.

I was well aware of what was right
and what was wrong.

And...was explained that

I could potentially bring shame
on my family.

And basically manipulated
into believing

it wasn't the best thing to do

to take it any further
and take it to the police.

The impact on me was wild.

I was bunking off school,

getting in trouble,

making terrible decisions.

And I remember there being a big
argument

and being told to get out...

..and never to come back.

Yeah, it's hard to see
how I survived that.

And I think it's not really
until you have children that

you really become
fiercely protective.

But yet no-one valued me enough
to protect me.

You know, my kids are everything.

Sorry...

Recent events have made me realise
I'm not alone in my experiences.

Australia has been given
a rare insight

into the workings
of the Jehovah's Witness Church.

The Commission has heard that
thousands of sex abuse allegations

have been covered up by the church.

Victims of child sex abuse
from around the world

have been coming forward
with stories like mine

of how the Jehovah's Witnesses
have silenced them.

It's resulted in
investigations worldwide,

including part of an inquiry
in the UK.

Religious institutions are failing
to protect children from abuse,

according to the independent inquiry
into child sexual abuse.

The 2021 inquiry found that
the handling of child sex abuse

within the Jehovah's Witness
Organisation lacks compassion

for the victim and serves to
protect the perpetrator.

To find out exactly
how the organisation does this,

I'm heading to Galway in Ireland

to meet a man who has dedicated
the last decade of his life

to gathering information
on the organisation.

Hi, Jason. Hello! Nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you.

I'm Becky, thanks for having us.
Very welcome.

So I have what I like to call
the cabin.

Jason Wynne was disfellowshipped
from the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2001

for having sex before marriage.

I'm loving the fact that it's all
women doing this show. Yeah?

It's really a kick in the nuts!

That'll be horrifying to them,
won't it?

He was so concerned about

the lack of transparency
within the organisation

that he's collated huge amounts
of information from both current

and former Jehovah's Witnesses.

This is amazing.

Did you build this? Yes.

And I had to build it so big
because I have so many hard drives

in there with so much information
relating to Jehovah's Witnesses.

Jason has an archive of private
policy documents, legal evidence

and correspondence with
the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Much of this was used to support
the case against them

in the independent inquiry
into child sex abuse.

How do Jehovah's Witnesses,
specifically the elders,

deal with alleged child abuse
in their congregation?

So in any kind of serious sin,
including child abuse,

there always has to be either two
or more witnesses to the incident

or there has to be a confession.

And I have a section here in the
Shepherd, the Flock of God, says

"There must be two or three
eyewitnesses,

"not just people repeating hearsay.

"No action can be taken
if there is only one witness."

So this is where it gets really
complicated.

Really, you don't have eyewitnesses
to a crime of child abuse

unless it was a paedophile ring and
they're all together, but which

of these paedophiles are going to
confess against the others?

Highly unlikely. Right?

So, it's up to the elders to
determine whether they want

to throw it out or not.
That's incredible.

The Jehovah's Witness policy
on child sex abuse states,

"Victims, their parents, or anyone
else who reports such an accusation

"to the elders, are clearly
informed by the elders

"that they have the right to report
the matter to the authorities."

The organisation will say
that Jehovah's Witnesses do not

prevent anyone from reporting
child sexual abuse.

What they mean by that is
that if someone has been abused,

they don't stop them from reporting
it to the police.

They are not talking about elders.

So the point there is that
it's, it's the...it's the parents

who have the responsibility
to report not the elders.

And that's the way they've always
operated about every type

of activity, to use sophistry,
to be able to deceive their members,

to deceive the courts,
to deceive governments,

to deceive everyone, really.

You know, we have had cases in
Ireland and in the UK where elders

have tried to report child sexual
abuse and any one of them

that did report child abuse
to the authorities, those elders

were defrocked, or as they call
it, deleted, and stripped

of their titles.

They were deleted in Ireland,
they've been deleted

in the United Kingdom,

and usually the crime is not
being loyal or lacking

soundness of mind.

Hearing this shocks me,

so I want to know more about how
the organisation is discouraging

people from reporting.

I've discovered a woman
from Northern Ireland

who was a Jehovah's Witness
for 50 years.

Laura was sexually abused
by a member of her congregation

when she was a child.

She says she repeatedly
reported it to the elders.

She has waived her right to
anonymity to speak to me on camera

for the first time
about her experiences.

How did he become known
to your family?

Him and his family joined
our congregation

when I was about seven of eight.

His son and his daughter, we played
together and, you know, we were

in and out of each other's houses.

They were in our house for the
Tuesday night Bible meeting,

so they were, you know, we're
seeing them mostly every day.

I think after the third child was
born, that's when the abuse started.

But it was very, very subtle
at first.

So, when he first started to hug me,
I just thought, "Oh, well,

"he does that with his own kids,
that's fine."

By the time I realised
that there was something wrong,

we were too far in.

And how old were you?
Eight years old.

I totally blamed myself, totally,

as most child abuse victims do.
Yeah.

Never even entered my head
that he was to blame.

You don't question.

You do what an adult tells
you to do. Yeah.

Especially within the church.

What he did was very painful,

physically painful,
more than anything.

He injured me and...

..I was disgusted with myself and
I'd just go back into the bedroom

and look in the mirror and call
myself every name under the sun.

I was so ashamed.

And I...think that
he...stole my life.

Hmm.

You were a child, and you should
have been protected by the ones

that weren't protecting you. Yeah.

When did you find the courage
to speak to your parents?

I first disclosed the abuse
when I was 17

and when I told my mum,
she didn't believe me.

I didn't disclose it really until
years later because I thought,

if my own mother doesn't believe me,
then no-one's going to believe me.

I'd actually went to see one
of the elders.

I told him who it was and when
it had happened,

and it was as if I had just told him
I had chicken and chips

for my dinner.
He ignored it and moved on.

So then it was another,

maybe five years later,
I went to the elders again

and they said, "OK, we'll ask him."

And they came back to me and said,
"We asked him, he said

"he didn't do it, so that's the end
of the matter."

Laura says she reported what
happened to her to the elders

a total of three times before
eventually she went to the police.

Once I had reported to the police,
the elders and the whole

organisation just shut down to me.

Laura says the Jehovah's Witnesses
delayed handing over evidence

to the police regarding the meetings
between the elders and her abuser.

On the morning,

the elders involved in the case were
supposed to be at court to give

evidence and to be witnesses
and they failed to turn up.

In the meantime, sort of toing and
froing back between barristers,

he eventually pleaded guilty.

What was his sentence?
LAURA SCOFFS

18 months suspended sentence and ten
years on the sex offender register.

And I'm being punished.
I feel like I'm the perpetrator.

I am literally being shunned
because I reported a child abuser

within their, within their
organisation.

We've also uncovered three cases
similar to Laura's, where elders

in the Jehovah's Witnesses failed
to assist in police investigations

and hand over evidence.

The Jehovah's Witnesses told us,
"Elders are directed to...

They also said it is "false and
offensive" to imply that they...

I think mine and Laura's lives
have been quite similar.

Ultimately, her family chose
religion over her,

which will have a forever
lasting effect on her.

And similarly, you know, my family
chose what they chose over me.

Throughout the filming of
this documentary, I've been trying

to speak to a member of the UK
branch committee

to get answers about what happened
to me in my childhood.

They've declined my request
for an interview and their written

response to my emails has failed
to answer questions

about my personal experiences.

So I'm on my way
to their headquarters, known

as Bethel, to see if someone
will speak to me.

I've never been to the UK
headquarters before.

Had a look on Google Maps
and it's quite extensive.

I understand it's over 82 acres,
which is vast, and it cost

them over £150 million to build,
which is quite incredible actually.

Ultimately, this is where
the decision makers

in the UK are based.

So, hopefully, today, it'll be our
best chance to actually find someone

that's willing to have a
conversation.

RINGING

RINGING

No. No response.

PHONE RINGING

Hiya. My name's Rebekah Vardy.

I have sent an email requesting
to interview a branch committee

member and I'm actually
outside your headquarters now

and I just wondered if there was
anyone available

to speak to me today.

Thank you.

This entrance alone would have cost
thousands of pounds.

Security alone.

We're all on their wide
TV screens right now.

I think they've intentionally
put me on hold knowing

that I'm outside, in the hope
that I'll just go away.

Hi.

No, thank you.

Oh, that's a real shame.

I was really hoping to get someone
in person from the organisation

to actually speak to me and answer
some of the questions I've got

on my experiences as a Jehovah's
Witness as a child.

So there's no-one that would be
willing to, to speak to me

at all today.

OK. All right. Thank you.
Hope you have a lovely day.

Thank you. Bye-bye.

It's been a really
interesting journey.

At the beginning, I felt quite a bit
of guilt for speaking out

against this religion, I think,
because for so long it was part

of my life.

But I didn't make
this out of revenge.

I made this because I was looking
for answers to what happened

in my childhood.

And unfortunately, those answers
just haven't been forthcoming,

which is a real shame.

I don't like to apportion blame on
people, especially family members.

But I think since filming this
documentary, I've formed a much

wider understanding about how
this organisation works,

how they suppress people,
how they force people to conform

in a certain way,

and that was what my parents
were both involved in.

And, you know, that's what wider
members of my family

are still involved in.

And I think, when you're so invested
in that, it's really hard to see

the bigger picture and see
outside those four walls.

And I think that's what makes
this organisation so dangerous.

So many of the people I've met
whilst making this documentary

have told me how they lost
everything by leaving

the Jehovah's Witness organisation.

But the freedom they all
have now that they are out

is an incredible feeling.

Freedom to make their own choices
and celebrate things like Christmas.

Enjoy yourselves.

Have a happy Christmas
and a free Christmas.

And tonight, I'm meeting a group
of ex-Jehovah's Witnesses

who have come together to celebrate
this magical time.

And do what you like
because you're free.

Everyone I love and care about
is now out and it's so lovely

to be able to live life to the full.

So now we're out and
celebrating Christmas.

We've got six Christmas trees
at home.

We're now, we're now,
we're now kids.

There's been a few of the stories
that have resonated with me

on a personal level, and it was
quite nice actually to know

that you hadn't
been through that alone.

I can close that chapter

and I move on.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media