


In 2017, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse found the total social exclusion known as "shunning" made it difficult for abuse survivors to leave the organisation, was "upsetting" and "particularly devastating" for those who suffered child abuse and left because their abuser remained in the congregation. They remain cut off from their families and closest friends: those they love the most. The people who break away from the Jehovah's Witnesses like Amy Whitby and Theresa Clare pay a terrible price. Ms Flynn's firm, Shine Lawyers, is representing 10 former Jehovah's Witnesses who allege they were abused within their congregations. In a statement to Four Corners, the Jehovah's Witnesses said, "The organisation responds directly to any claim for compensation in a caring, fair and principled manner". "That continuous denial, the continuous delays certainly has a significant impact on our clients," Ms Flynn said.

