The footballer’s wife claims that she was sexually exploited beginning at the age of 12 and that instead of being supported, she was “blamed and manipulated into believing that reporting it to the police was not the best course of action.”
Rebekah Vardy has revealed for the first time her childhood experiences as a Jehovah’s Witness.
She claims in a Channel 4 documentary that the religion neglected to support her during childhood sexual abuse.
The media personality and wife of footballer Jamie Vardy was raised in Norwich as a Jehovah’s Witness but quit the faith at age 15.
The 41-year-old woman also expresses her fury over the way her family was shunned after her parent’s divorce.
Vardy claimed in the documentary that she was sexually exploited by a community member when she was a young adolescent and that the incident was covered up by elders – senior male religious leaders.
In response to the claims made in the documentary, Jehovah’s Witnesses stated that it is “false and offensive” to suggest that they oppose the government.
Vardy stated, “I was raised in a strict and authoritarian religious organization.”
“What occurred during my childhood continues to have a daily impact on me.
“I was abused beginning when I was around 12 years old, and instead of being supported. And I was blamed and manipulated into believing it wasn’t the best idea to report it to the police.”
“I told my mother about the violence I was enduring. She wept, but she did not believe me.
“I told numerous members of my family and the Jehovah’s Witness community, and they convened a meeting. When I was about 15 years old, it was suggested that I mistook the abuse for affection.
“I knew I hadn’t, I was well aware of what was right and wrong, and it was explained to me that I couldisgraceon my family. I was essentially manipulated into believing that reporting it to the police was not the best course of action.
It is difficult to imagine how I survived that.
Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian cult with 8.5 million members, believe the world will end soon. They oppose blood transfusions, military service, and flag salute.
You would have to take action to make Jehovah pleased.
Vardy stated that, as a child, she believed she would perish in Armageddon if she was not “perfect,” and she recalled being shown “upsetting” images of the end of the world, stating that these images still give her nightmares as an adult.
She stated, “You would have to do things to keep Jehovah happy, as he was constantly observing.
Who you spoke to, how you spoke, dressed, carried yourself, and lived your life. And we were told that bad things would occur if we didn’t pray enough”
She stated that after her heparent’ss’ divorce, relatives and close acquaintances were forbidden to associate with them.
“I believe that’s when my real animosity towards religion began when I was made to feel so bad and so different,” she said.
False and insulting
Vardy, a mother of five, met other former Jehovah’s Witnesses in the documentary, including a victim of child abuse and the mother of a man who committed suicide after being expelled from the organization.
Jehovah’s Witnesses informed Channel 4 that elders must disclose any child sexual assault complaint to the authorities.
“Courts have rejected the allegation that disfellowshipping and so-called shunning result in social isolation and discrimination,” they wrote.
Furthermore, it is deceptive and discriminatory to imply that our religion is authoritarian.
They also stated that they lacked the information necessary to comment on specific cases.
