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Our Stories
Real-life case studies put a human face to the problem
We are collecting stories to make mandated shunning more relatable and tangible in front of lawmakers. Some authors have chosen not to include a photo due to safety or personal reasons. Their voice still matters.
Simon Hunter: Breaking the Cycle – Rebuilding Life After Leaving Jehovah’s Witnesses
Realising that your whole life has been based on a lie when you hit your forties is traumatic to say the least. I, like my wife, was raised in the ‘truth’ from birth and led to believe that I was so fortunate to have been so. I delaye...
Katrina Hunter: Life After Leaving: A Year of Pain, Clarity, and Survival
To be honest, the past year has been pretty rough. I was so unprepared for everything and so confused. I made two suicide attempts. I feel like I’m out of control, and the guilt is insane — my marriage, all my choices I’ve ever m...
A Stranger Overnight: Surviving 29 Years of Shunning After Leaving the Exclusive Brethren
I left the exclusive brethren when I was 18 years old. I stopped attending meetings and I was subsequently excommunicated. I did not agree with the level of control and the hypocrisy within the cult. From that point on I was completely shunned by...
Donna Lamb: Excerpt from “From Dream Come True to Nightmare: My Aesthetic Realism Experience”
This is the section of my story that includes being shunned while in the cult Aesthetic Realism, founded by Eli Siegel, which I was in for 32 years, from 1969 to 2001. The entire article was published in ICSA Today, Volume 12 – No 2 – ...
Deb Fera: Between Two Worlds: Chosen Silence, Chosen Freedom
My mother converted when I was 2, my father is an atheist. They nearly divorced, but did not and they are both still alive and married. I started questioning at about 15, and left when I was 24. Because my dad is not JW, I was allowed to communica...
Tony: The Hidden Cost of Silence: An Elder’s Story of Shunning and Conscience
I am a second-generation Jehovah’s Witness. From childhood, I was introduced to studying the Bible within this religion, and at 15, I was baptized. Over the years, I took on various roles, including pioneer, ministerial servant, and elder. C...
Passmore Sauti: Shunned on My Daughter’s Special Day
I left Jehovah’s Witnesses organization in November 2022. My daughter remained in the organization. This year, 2025, my daughter got married. I was not allowed to be part of the marriage negotiations. I was forced to appoint a proxy to act o...
Behind the Smiles: The Truth About Geelong Revival in the Philippines
I lived in the Philippines my whole life. We called the group “Bible Fellowship” (and lots of satellites assembly such as Dagupan Assembly, Naic Assembly, Lemery Assembly, Santa Rosa Assembly and other parts of the Philippines) our mai...
Thomas Boreham: The Impact of Religious Shunning—A Personal Account
My name is Thomas Boreham, and from 1996 to 2022, I was a member of the Milton Keynes Christian Revival Centre (MKCRC) (also registered as the Milton Keynes Bible Faith Fellowship) in the United Kingdom. The MKCRC is affiliated with the Geelong Re...
The Ache of Obedience—A Parent's Story of Mandated Shunning
As a parent, the pain of being told to turn away from your own child—someone you carried, raised, and love unconditionally—is an ache that words can scarcely contain. Some of us have seen announcements from the platform made casually, ...
Amy A.: Born In, Not Bound—Breaking Free from the JW Mental Prison
Hello, my name is Amy, I am an Ex-Jehovah’s Witness, having “faded out” about 12 years ago. I do not typically identify myself in this manner, as I no longer abide by the rules or mental prison that held me captive for far too lo...
Graham C: From Elder to Outcast—Why We Walked Away from the Watchtower
Became a member of JWs in about 1985, baptised in 1987. Became Elder in 1999, served as secretary to two congregations. Never quite agreed with most doctrines, and certainly the prophecies. Became a pimo, and I finally faded. The Reason I never l...
Bullied Into Disassociating
This is a very short breakdown of what I’ve lived. I was born and raised in the Jehovah's Witnesses. I walked away at 16 when I was supposed to shun my best friend because she chose to leave the organization. I stopped attending and moved aw...
Amy Grace: Three Generations in, One Heartbreaking Exit
I was born into the Jehovah's Witnesses / Watch Tower Society. I am a third generation and I raised my daughter in this also. I fully woke up from the convoluted ever changing doctrines and teachings at the age of 59, in 2019. I tried to get my da...
Denny Senner: Confession and Castigation: How My Sister Was Publicly Shamed and Shunned by Jehovah’s Witness Elders
I was born into the JW religion. My grandmother, grandparents, and parents were all in it. My grandfather and father were elders. I am one of four siblings. My younger sister, at age 28, slept with someone she had met (she was a virgin) and strai...
