Since I have been speaking out publicly about satanic ritual abuse in the Netherlands, I am regularly approached by survivors as well as by caregivers and fellow helpers. They tell of adults - but also of children - who testify to things that in many ways resemble the satanic ritual abuse I hear about from my clients. Moreover, the testimonies that reach me are not isolated. In this article more about the question: how much does it happen?

Organised sadistic abuse, ritual abuse or satanic ritual abuse?

If you delve into the testimonies, media reports and literature on satanic ritual abuse, you will discover that there are several names circulating for gruesome forms of organised abuse. Before I can write anything about how much satanic ritual abuse occurs, I must therefore first explain something about the various terms that are used. In studies on numbers of victims, the term 'ritual abuse' or the term 'organised sadistic abuse' is often used. This does not mean, however, that these cases do not involve abuse in a network whose hard core is ultimately the active worship of Satan. I myself was advised by an internationally known colleague to leave out the word 'satanic' on the lichtopsrm.com website. Another colleague advised me to leave out any satanic elements and only mention the sadistic abuse. In both cases, my colleagues were of the opinion that omitting reference to the satanic would benefit the credibility. The first colleague even indicated that it is general policy among colleagues in the US dealing with these issues not to use the term 'satanic'. One reason given is that we (aid workers) must avoid being accused again of sowing the seeds of 'satanic panic'. In the 1980s and 1990s, the media in the Netherlands and the US did indeed do this - accuse aid workers of sowing satanic panic. We, the team behind this site, take the position that we need to express in clear language what survivors are telling us. Without leaving out elements to make it more credible or to avoid false accusations in the media.

On this site we therefore use the term satanic ritual abuse. Based on our experiences and on testimonies, we are convinced that this form of abuse is profoundly satanic. We are also convinced that this is the deepest core from which the protagonists of many paedosexual and other worldwide crime networks operate, as well as institutions, organisations and movements that are aimed at manipulating human thought, feeling and action. 

How common is it?

Back to the main question of this article, how common is satanic ritual abuse? As indicated in a previous section, it is customary among social workers and in studies not to speak of the satanic aspect of ritual abuse. Therefore, in answering the question how often satanic ritual abuse occurs, I also include studies where ritual abuse is mentioned.

First of all, to stay close to home, within the top trauma centres in the Netherlands, 40 clients were in treatment in 2019, telling of ritual abuse (heard in this episode Argos, a research programme of the VPRO, received 200 questionnaires in a short time during a study on organised sadistic abuse. Only 60 questionnaires said nothing about rituals surrounding the abuse, so 140 did. The Knowledge Centre on Transgenerational Violence published an research among social workers who collectively knew 109 survivors. In Germany, an ongoing study on sexual violence has so far identified 60 survivors who speak of ritual abuse (see this interview), in Australia Michael Salter, criminologist, interviewed 50 adult survivors, see this item or his own website. On the interesting site 'end ritual abuse' by Ellen Lacter, psychologist in California, USA, there is a overview article with much information on empirical and forensic evidence of ritual abuse in the western world. This interesting article cites many studies, including a survey of social workers in the US (1991) where 1161 cases of ritual abuse are examined. It cites a study in England (1995) of sexual abuse where there are 121 cases of ritual abuse. An online survey (2007)in English and German with participants from 31 countries finds 751 victims of ritual abuse. Every year in the US there is a congress devoted to ritual abuse, the organisation survivorship organises an annual online international conference on the subject. If you want to know more, browsing the sites mentioned above will provide you with even more information.

If you have ever had an in-depth conversation with a survivor, you know how extremely reluctant and fearful they are to share anything about what goes on in the cult. We can therefore safely assume that it is only a very small percentage of survivors who take the step of seeking help or daring to fill in a questionnaire. For example, a colleague told me that she had done an intake with someone who told her about ritual abuse. Afterwards, she told me that she was so afraid that something would happen to the counsellor if she continued talking that she did not want to come back. Survivors also tell of the punishments they receive in the cult if they take serious steps in therapy or come forward with some information about the cult. We also know that systematic torture at a very young age leads to dissociative identity disorder (DIS, see article elsewhere on this site), which makes it very difficult to tell about it and thus plays into the hands of the perpetrators. We know that there is far too little, and usually far inadequate, help. Survivors also tell how cult members work within youth care and in places where psychological or practical help is offered to adults with DID, to undermine help.

In short, the amount of testimony in the Western world in recent decades is too great to ignore and there are very good reasons to believe that this is just a small tip of a large iceberg. It is high time we stopped putting faith in simplistic explanations that falsely reassure us. Satanic ritual abuse occurs. In the Western world and beyond. In the Netherlands. Possibly right next door. It is high time that together we create a way out for survivors of satanic ritual abuse.