Rebekah Vardy says she was sexually abused throughout Jehovah’s Witness childhood

Rebekah Vardy has spoken for the primary time about her experiences of rising up as a Jehovah’s Witness.

In a Channel 4 documentary she alleges the faith didn’t assist her via sexual abuse as a baby.

The media character and spouse of footballer Jamie Vardy was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness in Norwich however left on the age of 15.

The 41-year-old additionally talks about her anger at how her household was shunned following her dad and mom’ divorce.

In the documentary, Vardy stated she was sexually abused by somebody locally when she was a younger teenager, claiming it was coated up by elders – senior male non secular leaders.

In response to the claims made within the documentary, Jehovah’s Witnesses stated it’s “false and offensive” to indicate that they stand in the way in which of the authorities.

Vardy stated: “I was brought up in a strict and controlling religious organisation.

“What occurred to me throughout my childhood nonetheless impacts me each single day.

“From the age of round 12 years previous I used to be being abused and as an alternative of being supported I used to be blamed, manipulated into believing it wasn’t the very best factor to take it to the police.

“I told my mum about the abuse that I was experiencing. She cried, but didn’t believe me.

“I advised quite a few members of my household, Jehovah’s Witness neighborhood, they usually known as a gathering, I feel I used to be about 15, it was steered that I had misinterpreted the abuse for a type of affection.

“I knew that I hadn’t, I was well aware of what was right and what was wrong, and it was explained that I could bring shame on my family, and I was basically manipulated into believing it wasn’t the best thing to do to take it any further and take it to the police.

“It’s onerous to see how I survived that.”

Jehovah’s Witnesses are a Christian denomination with about 8.5 million followers worldwide, and consider the destruction of the world is imminent. They have quite a lot of beliefs which might be distinctive to them – they don’t salute the flag of any nation, they refuse army service, and they’re in opposition to blood transfusions, for instance.

‘You must do issues to maintain Jehovah pleased’

Vardy stated that, as a baby, she believed she would die in Armageddon if she was not “perfect” and he or she remembered being proven “upsetting” photographs depicting the tip of the world, saying these nonetheless trigger her nightmares as an grownup.

She stated: “You would have to do things to keep Jehovah happy, because he was always watching.

“Who you spoke to, the way you spoke, the way you dressed, the way you held your self, the way you carried out each a part of your complete life, and we had been advised if we did not pray sufficient, dangerous issues would occur to us.”

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She said that after her parents divorced, relatives and friends were banned from associating with them.

“I feel that is the place my actual resentment to faith began… being made to really feel so dangerous, so totally different,” she said.

‘False and offensive’

In the documentary, Vardy, now a mother-of-five, met other former Jehovah’s Witnesses, including a victim of child abuse and the mother of a man who killed himself after being expelled by the organisation.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses told Channel 4 that elders are directed to immediately report an allegation of child sexual abuse to the authorities even if there is only one complainant.

They rejected the suggestion that being expelled from the religion contributed to suicide and added: “Courts have rejected the allegation that disfellowshipping and so-called shunning leads to social isolation and discrimination.

“And it is simply misleading and discriminatory to imply that our religion is controlling.”

They additionally stated they lacked the knowledge to touch upon particular person circumstances.