Protect ISKCON's Children with stronger child protection, transparency, and accountability

Let Us Protect ISKCON’s Children

Every devotee who has sincerely accepted Srila Prabhupada as their spiritual guide desires the same thing: an ISKCON where Krishna consciousness can flourish in purity, truthfulness, and trust. No sincere devotee takes pleasure in discussing painful subjects such as child abuse, or wishes to see ISKCON's reputation damaged. Yet there are moments when silence becomes harmful. Throughout history, spiritual institutions have faced a difficult choice: protect their image, or protect the vulnerable. When these two appear to conflict, genuine spiritual leadership always chooses truth, compassion, and protection. Children are the most vulnerable members of our society. They depend entirely upon adults for their safety, well-being, and care.

When a child is harmed, neglected, or abused, the responsibility does not rest on the perpetrator alone. It also rests on the system, culture, and authorities that failed to prevent the harm or respond appropriately when concerns were raised. This petition is not an attack on ISKCON, the GBC, or any particular individual. It is a call for honesty, transparency, accountability, and meaningful reform, so that no child entrusted to Krishna's movement suffers unnecessarily in the future. Srila Prabhupada repeatedly emphasized that leaders must be courageous, honest, and willing to confront wrongdoing wherever it appears. ISKCON will not be judged by how effectively problems are concealed, but rather by how sincerely they are addressed.

Some devotees may hesitate to sign because they fear being misunderstood, criticized, or labeled as disloyal. Yet genuine loyalty does not mean remaining silent when children may be at risk. Genuine loyalty means helping the society live up to the standards that Srila Prabhupada established. A signature on this petition is a statement of responsibility. It is a statement that every child deserves protection, that every parent deserves confidence, and that every survivor deserves to be heard. It is a statement that truth matters, and that Krishna consciousness should never be compromised by secrecy, fear, politics, or institutional self-preservation. Future generations of devotees will inherit the culture we create today. The question before us is simple: do we want a society that has the courage to confront difficult truths, or one that ignores them? By signing this petition, you are helping to create an ISKCON that is safer, healthier, more transparent, and more aligned with the principles Srila Prabhupada taught us.

If you would like to read the letter that we intend to send to the GBC together with your signatures, please visit www.dharmasanga.org. Click on the image titled "Let Us Protect ISKCON's Children." This will open our letter to the GBC, which is available in several languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, German, French, Croatian, and others. As you could read in our letter to the GBC, we have listed ten points outlining our requests. However, that is only the first step. If they acknowledge and implement at least some of our requests, we will ultimately require the following from them as well:

1. Gurukulas ought to be run by professionally trained Vaishnavas and parents who have undergone proper screening as teachers and managers. Such teachers should be given reasonable salaries.

2. The Child Protection Office (CPO) should consist exclusively of individuals professionally trained in the field of child protection.

3. The CPO should be financially strengthened and provided with all necessary resources to ensure its optimal performance.

4. Random and unannounced CPO inspections should be introduced in ISKCON gurukulas.

5. ISKCON needs to make it standard practice to prosecute abusers to the full extent of the law.

6. There is an urgent need to educate ISKCON devotees, especially parents, about the history and all aspects of child protection.

If you would like to better understand the seriousness and scope of this issue, we encourage you to read the articles in our “Children” category, where you will find documented reports, analysis, and testimonies concerning child protection within ISKCON:

https://www.dharmasanga.org/blog/category/children/  

Thank you in anticipation. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Your servants:

Damodara das

Sanaka Rsi das,

Saraswati devi dasi 

Akrura das,

Vrisabha das,

Satyavati-suta das

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