quality:corruption
Handling of sexual abuse cases

Jehovah's Witnesses have been accused of having policies and culture that help to conceal cases of sexual abuse within the organization. The group has been criticized for its "two witness rule" for congregational discipline, based on its application of scriptures in Deuteronomy 19:15 and Matthew 18:15–17, which requires sexual abuse to be substantiated by secondary evidence if the accused person denies any wrongdoing. In cases where corroboration is lacking, the Watch Tower Society's instruction is that "the elders will leave the matter in Jehovah's hands".

A former member has said that the policy effectively requires that there be another witness to an act of molestation, "which is an impossibility". However, in response to the charge that their policies "protect pedophiles rather than protect the children", the organization has maintained that the best way to protect children is to educate parents; they also say they do not sponsor activities that separate children from parents.

The group's failure to report abuse allegations to authorities has also been criticized. The Watch Tower Society's policy is that elders inform authorities when required by law to do so, but otherwise leave that up to the victim and their family. William Bowen, a former Jehovah's Witness elder who established the Silentlambs organization to assist sex abuse victims in the denomination, has claimed that Witness leaders discourage followers from reporting incidents of sexual misconduct to authorities. Other critics have alleged that the organization is reluctant to alert authorities to protect its "crime-free" reputation.

In court cases in the United Kingdom and the United States, the Watch Tower Society has been found negligent in its protection of children from known sex offenders within the congregation. The Society has settled other child abuse lawsuits out of court, reportedly paying as much as $780,000 to one plaintiff without admitting wrongdoing. In 2017, the Charity Commission for England and Wales began an inquiry into Jehovah's Witnesses' handling of allegations of child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom.