This popped into my head yesterday and I ran it by some exmos on Facebook. Some of them thought the idea was quite interesting. One of them said he was going to put it on another popular forum.
Certainly a lot of missionaries come home from their missions and gush about how wonderful their experience was, but there are many, and I’m guessing a fair number here, who feel they were subjected to neglect, exploitation, emotional abuse, abandonment, etc.
I suppose most are familiar with the term “Elder Abuse.” Although it sounds like a perfect term to describe a terrible missionary experience, it is traditionally used to describe mistreatment of the older members of our society.
However, I decided to look up the definition of elder abuse to see what it said.
Here is a common definition (per a US Dept. of Health and Human Services Website):
In general, elder abuse is a term referring to any knowing, intentional, or negligent act by a caregiver or any other person that causes harm or a serious risk of harm to a vulnerable adult. Legislatures in all 50 states have passed some form of elder abuse prevention laws. Laws and definitions of terms vary considerably from one state to another, but broadly defined, abuse may be:
Physical Abuse
Sexual Abuse
Neglect
Exploitation
Emotional Abuse
Abandonment
Self Neglect

Something significant: THERE IS NO SPECIFIED AGE RANGE, PHYSICAL OR INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY FOR THIS!
And then I considered the elders and sisters serving their missions.
They had an expectation that their mission was going to be a spiritually rewarding experience. But that’s not what happened for a lot of them. They found they could not come and go as they pleased, they were subjected to strict rules, long hours, demanding goals and were blamed for lack of success. If they were ill or suffered an injury there were layers of leadership to go through to finally make their plea to the mission president and/or his wife. It was necessary for them to share information with companions, zone leaders and the mission president that in other situations is considered protected health information under HIPAA law. If it was turning into a bad situation and they were contemplating going home, they were subjected shame: “If you go home, what will your parents and family think? What will your friends think? What will the ward think? And most of all, what will the Lord think? Don’t you think you should just work harder and not think of yourself all the time? You need to read more/fast more/pray more/be more faithful and everything will be just fine."
They didn’t have control of their money. If the missionary is staying somewhere where rent must be paid, the cost of the mission is $10,000 (at least that’s what it cost when our son went). If the missionary is staying somewhere with no rent due (since members are encouraged to provide a place rent free), the mission still costs $10,000.
If the missionary was serving in a foreign country it’s my understanding that the mission office held onto their passport for “safekeeping.” This also effectively prevented them from leaving the country. I am a little sketchy on this point, others may have had a different experience.
Now, plugging all of this back into the definition of elder abuse.
1. These missionaries were at least 18 years of age and so are legally considered adults.
2. They were vulnerable because they couldn’t come and go as they pleased and in many cases they felt coerced by fear, shame, and peer pressure.
3. It is very questionable as to whether or not they received full use/value of the money THEY and their families donated for their support.
4. The restrictions placed upon them seem to fit the definitions of neglect, exploitation (both for their labor and finances), emotional abuse and abandonment.
5. There are some who served missions who undoubtedly suffered physical abuse, sexual abuse and self neglect.
6. Mission Presidents, acting as agents of the church, inflicting these conditions on those serving missions, create a liability for the church itself.

I don't know...I didn't go on a full time mission, but to me, by using existing laws designed to protect vulnerable adults – it sounds like a possible class action lawsuit with thousands of potential participants.
As we all heard recently, they will never apologize, so they will never accept moral accountability. I don’t have a dog in the fight, but it would still be very satisfying to see the church be forced be held financially accountable for this contemptible behavior.