The Mormon church announced Monday it was making significant policy changes after numerous women said they were encouraged by their church leaders to stay in physically or sexually abusive relationships.

The changes were made to the abuse guidelines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are meant for the religion's local, volunteer clergy — known as bishops and stake presidents. Though the church has long had more general policies on how to deal with members suffering abuse, as of Monday the guidelines now state that "members should never be encouraged to remain in a home or situation that is abusive or unsafe."

Clergy members are also now advised against ignoring abuse allegations.

"Church leaders should never disregard a report of abuse or counsel a member not to report criminal activity to law enforcement personnel," the guideline now states.

The church did not mention any specific cases in its announcement of the policy changes Monday, and a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News the modifications had been in the works for months.

However, the additions dealing with abuse appear to respond to recent claims that over the years numerous Mormon women reported physical, psychological, emotional, and sexual abuse to their bishops and stake presidents, but were encouraged to remain with their abusers.

The issue surfaced after two ex-wives of now-former White House staff secretary Rob Porter came forward with allegations of domestic violence. Both women said they mentioned the alleged abuse to their local church leaders and were told to stay with Porter. Nearly two dozen women later told BuzzFeed News they had received similar guidance.

The policy changes announced Monday also allow members to bring a third person into interviews with bishops and stake presidents, which in the past were typically one-on-one.

"If the person being interviewed desires, another adult may be invited to participate in the interview," the guidelines now state. "Leaders should avoid all circumstances that could be misunderstood."

Mormon leaders routinely conduct interviews with members to discuss topics ranging from spiritual well-being to family life to worthiness for various religious rites. However, those interviews have come under fire in recent months from a growing group of Mormons who believe minors should not be subjected to questions about sexual behavior. Such questions can come up, for example, when a bishop asks children and teenagers about issues like masturbation and fornication that fall under the religion's "law of chastity."

Sam Young, a former Mormon bishop who has been leading the effort to end such interview questions, praised the policy changes.

"This is big," he told BuzzFeed News on Monday. "This is a huge, wonderful thing. I absolutely see that as a response to what we’re doing."