By Massimo Introvigne
CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions)

ABSTRACT: Based on the author’s experience as an expert witness in court cases and previous research, the article discusses the problems of studying and giving opinions on incidents where individuals or movements are accused of sex abuse within a ritualized context. Some accusations refer to imaginary or hypothetical abuses. In the case of spiritual movements teaching and practicing sacred eroticism, some ex-members reconstruct their experiences, often ex post facto, as abuses. Their voices should not be ignored. However, the view that no reasonable person would accept to participate in erotic rituals or submit to erotic initiations by a spiritual master unless she has been “brainwashed” derives from a general bias against new religious movements and misunderstandings about sacred eroticism.

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