Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century

There are rituals for almost every aspect of life from birth to marriage to death. But there is evidence of another category of rituals and that is ritual abuse. Generations of men and women have been victimized by ritual abuse perpetrated on them from early childhood. The examples of this abuse include torture, deprivation, pornography, prostitution, deception and other deviant or illegal activities. This type of abuse goes on all over the world. According to a recent online survey, survivors of ritual abuse responded to the characteristics of abuse they were subjected to. Those respondents identified their abuse experiences as including: 1) Incest, 2) child pornography and prostitution, 3) sexual abuse by multiple perpetrators, 4) being caged, 5) starvation, 6) bestiality, 7) buried alive, 8) electroshock, 9) sensory deprivation, 10) sleep deprivation, 11) forced cannibalism, 12) secret government-sponsored mind control experiments.

These all sound painful and shocking to read, but this is the reality for millions of children. "Ritual Abuse" is an important book that examines ritual abuse for the Twenty-First Century. The first few chapters explain rituals, the language, politics and history. Chapters three and four explain the commonalities adult survivors experience as a result and the differential diagnosis to determine ritual abuse. Other chapters explore terrorism, the "false memory" controversy, satanic abuse, and mind control. There are also heartbreaking stories told in first-hand accounts of ritual abuse survivors and recognizing and treating survivors of abuse.

As a social worker, this book appealed to me directly from my past experience with working with children who have survived abuse. I haven’t personally treated a child who suffered from ritual abuse, but I believe it is a type of abuse that needs more attention. The stories are difficult to read, but important to tell and I applaud the contributors of this book for doing so, especially the survivors. The chapters cover a broad base and each one is laid out in a way that is easy to read, yet is a wealth of information on this subject. Even those who aren’t in the psychology or social work field will find this book a compelling read. I hope "Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century" gets the attention it deserves and more importantly we find a way to eradicate ritual abuse, and protect our children all over the world.

Ritual Abuse in the Twenty-First Century
Editors Randy Noblitt and Pamela Perskin Noblitt
Robert D. Reed Publishers (2008)
ISBN 9781934759127
Reviewed by Tracy Kokemuller for Reader Views (8/08)