"Not saying no meant I said yes." The elders told me. Meet Meleah
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- čas přidán 6. 03. 2023
- Meleah was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. By the time she was 16, she had been sexually abused three times, all of which she was made to believe was her fault.
In this interview, Meleah shares her triumphant story of leaving the organization and how she has been able to reparent herself.
Meleah’s CZcams channel:
/ @meleahthompsonstrilzu...
These men are so peverted. The way they would watch us "sisters" was so uncomfortable. I'm so happy I got my kids out.
Thank you for sharing your story Meleah. I'm so sorry you went through this. Thanks Vevian for having her on. Thanks to both of you for not being silent.
Thank you for watching 💛
I normally don't comment on videos, but this one is so sad. Meleah has been so wronged. How this org treats women, children, and victims of CSA is a crime. This org needs to go down.
Often elders ask a SA victim if they enjoyed it , I'd break jaws if I were asked that. Damn the consequences.
Thank you Vevian and Meleah for your heart breaking story of abuse as a young girl . I too grew up in the society , and the issue that I don't understand is how the elders with all the knowledge they have , the talks they've given on how the flock , young or old are to trust those they view as fellow brothers and sisters with even their lives as we get nearer to the end of the system of things . Some more recent talks even go as far as to tell the flock to trust and do without question , what their told to do EVEN if what is commanded doesn't make sense . Those in charge don't realize that in an innocent child's mind because of what they've been taught by their parents , an older brother or sister MUST only have good intentions when they talk privately and say things that they might not understand , place their hands on an area that don't seem right , remove articles of clothing that expose their privates , or perform acts that scare them . The Society is quick to point out how certain procedures in the old testament are no longer applied in today's circumstances , but keep those that will keep the mention or exposure of the Societies dirty laundry or as put very politically ' That Brings Reproach On The WT " to the public , FAIL to realize that the use of the authorities properly trained interrogating techniques , medical professionals , lab forensics can make a positive assessment of a CSA case . The Societies " Confession Argument " in a civil matter might do if both parties agree to use it, but with a Criminal Assault Accusation , it is always better to get properly trained Professionals to do the job .
I was sexually abused by a brother in my house.I went straight to the police they took me to the hospital took evidence then we went to my house they took more evidence then they arrested him.2 elders came to my house the next morning and ask me to came clean that night they arranged a meeting I went with the police and a lady who was helping me to deal with the crime.After that no one ask me for anything the so call brother got. 5 years jail time.
I feel for her and commend her for sharing her story it really touched me a lot. I also went through hard times in that organization and up until recently I decided I want nothing to do with it absolutely nothing!
I've been a caregiver to my wife for 20 years and I couldn't even rove a mic because I wasn't exemplary because of low hours meanwhile eldubs would put their parents in old age homes!
The worst part is, most witnesses who come upon this story will hear all this skip past the abuse, jump over the trauma and only see the part about Marrying an Unbeliever.
Hey there PA Attorney General, are you listening? Let’s hope these people are FINALLY held to account for this horrific behavior.
When I was a jw, one of the girls had to go to a committee meeting and the elders ask the worst questions, very embarrassing questions. " Did he put his fingers in you, how did they move them, fast, slow, in and out. How did you respond. Did you like it. Were your legs wide open , did you take off all your clothes. Did you touch him. Was your hand on him going up and down, were either if you moaning and did either of you come!!!!! Why would they ever ask any of this. The girls mother said she thought the elders got their jollies listening to all this. The satisfaction is knowing judgement day is coming. Thank God!
Many people believe the elders get off on these sex cases. They did ask me questions about what was I wearing, where did he touch, did I have a climax? I didn't even know about that (climax) because I was virgin at the time. To be clear there was no intercourse or nakedness involved but by the time they finished asking questions I felt like I had done all of those things
It's not not of their damn business really i would said screw you all of you
they have no business asking those things, basically they get aroused and that's why they do it
😮
Absolute perverts. If you reported it to the police and they asked questions like that they would get sued. Police have to ask some embarrassing questions just to ascertain which crime they will charge someone with but what the elders do is just gross. Half of them turn up to be the abusers, or it's their kids doing it, so it is not surprising. One of our elders had eight kids, every one of the boys was abusing every one of the girls. I think we can all figure out where they learned that.
I'm so sorry that happened to her. Thanks for sharing the video.
Thank you for sharing ❤️ the elders aren't in any way qualified to talk to anyone who has experienced this. Even if someone enjoys the abuse at the time it' still doesn't mean the person consented. You can experience abuse, feel you have no choice but to go along with it and still physically enjoy the experience. There are multiple factors that play a part. The elders are so ignorant and don't have a clue, victim blame instead.
I was baptized when I was 12, too... Crazy to think of it, now. And then my friends who got married at 15, too...
OMG VEVIAN THIS MAKES ME SO ANGRY 😡 MY HEART HURTS FOR HER I JUST FIND OUT MY NIECE WAS SEXUALLY ABUSED BY A ELDER AND SHE WAS 10 my family went after him with a VENGEANCE I CANNOT SAY ANYONE @ time THANK YOU VEVIAN FOR YOUR CHANNEL ❤
Thank you Vevian and Meleah for this video. I’ve been out for 7 years and I swear I hate how false these elders are. It breaks my heart some women had to go through this 😢
DF &FREE 23+yrs🙋I WAS ALSO RE-VICTIMIZED BY THEM & DOUBLE LIFE IS UNREAL.... YOU'RE NOT ALONE🌻✌
MUCH 💖🤗💫
My heart goes out to you, Meleah! I can't fathom all the pain you went through. I'm so glad you found your voice and stood up for yourself and for the little girl you were.
I was raised a JW, and thank God I had strong, loving parents - mom (JW) and dad ("unbeliever"). When my mom passed away, I had a JW bf from another congregation. We "fooled" around he confessed to his elders, who in turn told my elders. Thankfully I only got talked to by one, the husband of my mom's best friend. He never asked any embarrassing questions, and was understanding & compassionate because my mom had just passed away. I know now that I was very lucky. I moved away to my non-JWs sister's house then with my dad to another state to go to college.
I've always had good feelings about the JWs, even though I faded. Only recently have my eyes been opened about the hypocrisy of the GB & WT society. Thank you Vevian, for your channel and others for theirs that have led me to this realization and for helping others tell their stories. Let the healing continue! 💖
It makes me sick how these grown up adult men can question young girls about what has happened to them! My daughter was questioned with me there and she was 16 and I’m like these are completely unacceptable questions to be asking!!! I think they enjoy hearing the answers!!! It’s just gross!
Like when they asked in the Australian Royal Commission, why can’t they sisters to take care of sensitive information like this! Oh no! Not a woman in control of helping and giving sisters a safe place to go!!!! My kids turned 18, my son & my daughter 16 and both got DF’d and that’s what they wanted. They didn’t believe anymore. I was a 4th generation born in and I told my kids they weren’t leaving me behind so I stopped going to meetings and no one ever called on me, no elders or sisters in service, no one! Even my mother shunned me for the last 8 years of her life! The last thing she said to me was that I was going to die with my kids! I said oh well, I’ll be dead & wont know it! I have an older sister who never got baptized and I knew she was only going because of our mother. A few months after our mother died, at the beginning of quarantine, I sent her a message asking if she was interested in getting back together with me & my 2 kids and I went to her house that same day! We live 5 minutes apart and I live across the street from the Kingdom Hall. I knew my sister never got baptized in the 8 years I’d been out and she said our mother told her to stick with the witnesses, they would take care of her! Haha! She found out real quick that that wasn’t true! Now I have my sister back, over 2 years now! This October, I’ll have been out 11 years and am so much happier!!!!
Good luck to you Meleah! I lost all the fake friends I made over my 42 years in, still live across from the Kingdom Hall too!!!! It definitely gets easier with time and I totally feel for people with lots of family & friends who feel like they have to stay! But, hey, that’s where the leaks come from!!!!🌺🌺🌺
So happy you have your sister back!
Wow that's so nice you got your sister back. Yeayyyy!
I've served as an Elder for 11 years and believe it or not there are times when young ones are not forthright in these situation. I'm in no way implying this lady is lying, likely she isn't. But, there is no way of substantiating or validating her claim. There really was nothing the Elders could do. Also you must understand that there were likely other details brought out in the judicial meeting that could have had a bearing on the decision. I do feel sorry for her because I believe that she did endure abuse. However I am somewhat confused as to why her family did not go to the authorities and why she would continue to go around her brother in law who had already "touched her butt" and this situation was "escalating" Why would you allow yourself to be in a situation like that knowing that likely something eventually would happen? Now, I am in no way defending her brother- in- law. He was 22 and she only 16. That would make him a child molester!. Again though why were Police not contacted? Just for the record I do not enjoy hearing comments about sexual abuse on any level. Child abuse as rampant today and sadly prevalent among JW's too. But, that doesn't mean that every situation is not handled correctly and that every molester is not held accountable. Please try to be objective.
@@jamesbridgewater9195 if you’re an elder currently, why are you watching this video? You as an elder have to see the hypocrisy & misogyny that has always been this real estate empire! They have billions of dollars, yet beg for donations & act like they need the money, when they dint! Maybe they should try helping people, giving back to if not general people, their members. They get millions of people to work full time for free! They should be embarrassed at the way people are treated and the way they break families up! Geoffrey Jackson LIED UNDER OATH!!! Since when is lying acceptable? Don’t you see how easily everything they do, is wrong, false & taken out of context! I still don’t know what made me stay for 42 years. Being lied to!!!! It’s incredible they have any members left. That’s why they are trying to keep the born ins interested. Christian music? Anime? What???? I’m sorry it took me so long, maybe you, James will wake up and see the @new light” oh and let’s not forgot one of the biggest. FALSE PROPHETS!!!!! How can you explain the growing list of wrong???🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
@@jamesbridgewater9195 you are so clueless about the feelings of women. Objective..one elder said: I wish a sister would touch me like that. Another called me a bald faced liar…(I knew I wasn’t a bald faced liar. ). In his eyes women had no right to accuse his best friend in the elders club. They decided to disfellowship me for being a modern day Jezebel because of encouraging the young sisters to come forward. You don’t even understand your prejudice. Women will never be what you consider objective in this area but they will continue to be harmed in a lifelong way until this is treated as a crime and dealt with by professionals, not plumbers, maintenance workers, and gardeners.
I am so sorry meleah that you had to endure this madness. You are a very strong women.
I really liked this interview, and she seems like she really has had a hard path. She is real with a very believable story. Thank you so much for posting.
Why were the elders and parents blaming HER for being abused? What was their reasoning for that? What became of the perpetrators? We’re they reproved, or disfellowshipped?
Its a JW behavior to blame victims. Their secret rule book, for elders only (to be kept locked up & not even touched by a woman), is actually set up very slyly to protect pedos. They have a history of treating women & children very badly. Its patriarcal, a religion for men, by men. They are extremely carefull how they word things, with many double & hidden meanings. Once you discover it, its obvious. "We abhor child abuse...where REQUIRED by law, we will ENDEAVOR to report to authorities." If you listen to all the victim statements you will notice that all the victims say the same or nearly the same thing. While blaming the victim, they tell them that they can report to police...but if they do, that it will bring reproach on the congregation & god, in hopes of detering them. Some are threatened with disfellowshipping or other punishment. JW's are trained to obey the elders explicitly. They have a teaching from the bible that if a woman doesnt scream when being raped, that she is willing. I could go on ALL day. This info is all available online, on their own website, & in their own bible & publications. Most JW's are good people & dont realize that they have been tricked & endoctrinated. They think the elders are provided to help them. Having been raised as a JW who actually read the bible thru, along with all the literature, getting abused myself & even worse seeing SO many others abused, I finally figured it out after 42 yrs. I now call them a High Control Fundalmentalist Dooms Day Modern Day Human Sacrificing Cult. Let me count the ways that they actually kill people & get them to willingly sacrifice their lives...
I've heard some bad stories but dam! OMG I am so sorry this happened to her.
Heartbreaking to hear your story. Happy that I left 30 years ago. This cult destroys families.
WOW what a sad story of being manipulated! I hope Meleah can somehow move on from this!
Tks for your interview .
❤❤❤
Perhaps one day their conscience will wake them up and they realize that the jehovah's organization has taken away their natural affection. I would be proud if you were my daughter.♥️
I asked the elders point blank: You do realize that child abuse is perpetuated by silence, right? They had no answer.
This is terrible the unbiblical shunning in this religion is disgusting and inhumane. Sadly they don't even understand they're not even serving god correctly. Meelah you are brave and im sending you hugs and well wishes.
Thank you for sharing your story Meleah! your sharing will give strength to others too.
What you went through is heartbreaking. How courageous you are to have found your voice. It occurs to me that just before they disfellowshipped you, you had already vomited them out of your mouth. Children in the organisation, whether on purpose or not, by being taught to never speak up and bring shame on the organisation, they are being systematically groomed. Do not follow mortal men who cannot save. Psalm 146. John 14 6.
Great Job
💛
As in all religious cults those with authority get away with and coverup wrong doing while living double lives.Its the rank and file who get screwed.We need to get out of these toxic religions and tell those on the outside to stay away from them!
I'm so sorry of what was done to you😭 Wishing you the recovery you need in having a healthy healing rest of life🤗
I am sorry that you had to endure all that you went through Maleah, and all this without any support from the elders in the Organization. I am wishing you the best with the chance to move on from all the fakery of the Organization.
This is one of the most heartbreaking stories of trauma. I’m so sorry
Does anyone think that the elder are committing sexual abuse & further trauma by the interrogation of those in these judicial meetings?
These judicial meetings of interrogation asking details should be illegal
I’m repulsed & don’t understand how these elders think these judicial meetings are in anyway Jehovah’s approved arraignment
It is true, that some females are attractive, like this lovely blond woman and they of course are targeted. What a shame.
You need to post her account. People want to hear her story.
Meleah Thompson Strilzuk
I added it the description 💛
@@Overcomingreligioustrauma 🙏🏻
@@vevianvoz 🙏🏻
I hate this happened to you. No one supported you… as a young child with no options or not knowing that you had options you dealt with the abuse in silence. That was horrible…. Your sister, the Elders and abuser is pitiful… SMDH!!
Meleah's story is so typical sadly of Watchtower's abuse and control, such a highly toxic organization, glad Meleah's in a better place now, what a beautiful soul.............❤
Thankfully you're still young enough to have a life. Good luck wish you the best.
Sue them. There are many lawsuits going in and winning.
Sending ♥️
Funny how this is so crazy, yet almost normal. So, how old was your nephew when he got married? The timeline just accelerated so quick.
The full story is on my channel
After watching this video and many others, I am beginning to wonder if I need to give my testimony on youtube of my upbringing in the jw cult
The elders ask these perverted questions and THEN tell you there’s nothing to be done bc of the 2-witness rule 😤⚖️😭
At Matthew 18:6 Jesus said:
“But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
No one should go through what you have gone through. There will be a day of reckoning for those who have brought such trauma on our young people. Do give up. Our creator does see, and he will act.
Read Micah 6:2, 7, 11, 16.
I hope this offers some comfort.
I wish her parents could see this!
This is horrible. These people are all creepy.
A witness giving a wine to her sister. Why did Vevian break in when she was going to talk after the story got to the point where she layed on the bed with tears?
Though I don't agree with their way of handling child sexual abuse issues. But even in other religions sex outside marriages is indeed adultery .
It seems that Malaiah was groomed to comply. Since the incident at 11yo. the church elders groomed her to accept sexual assault and set the way other members should treat her.
She is attractive and likely was a pretty girl / teenager. child. The incident that was known in the congregation was when she was 11 years - and she was NOT believed and nothing happened. Which was a signal for the predators in the congregation that she was fair game. I assume her brother in law also had learned about it, or he sensed that she would be a good target.
Some guy to BRAG about it. Even IF she had been actively willing - what is there to brag about when he cheats on his wife with a minor (and his wife's sister no less).
These guys are predators. You did nothing that would justify these actions against you as a child, especially when you were a teen. You needed help & protection, not the inquisition. It grieves me that these "responsible men" failed you and society. They fail to recognize that they unleashed predators on the community.
@31:04. I was not a born-in JW and even as a kid I knew screwing a person would get you in trouble with the elder. You as a grown woman born-in did not 😳 ..? Again, not criticizing you. I am just shocked on how little some EXJW knew about the rules.
Women would make better elders.......but then maybe not. The elders have to much power over the Rankin file JW.
I am not victim blaming. But I do have to bring up points. Your mother knew there were predators in the family and she herself was a victim. Why did you leave you alone with family members? If the assault, why did you not develop an aversion to being alone with people? After the second attack, why did you keep going to your brother-in-law after the first fondling? I know Watchtower has mind-control. But even Watchtower 30 years ago earned about being alone with the opposite sex. Women do not leave their men alone with other attractive females over the age of 14. Especially one that may be flirty. On top, after being naive and lying for your brother-in-law who played you and you sister who threw you into the fire, you still went back to where you were assaulted to babysit. 🤨