Who survives/are the victims of ritual abuse ?

The victims of ritual abuse are the sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, or foster children of perpetrators (Smith 1993); they are infants terrorised into silence during babysitting sessions by a family friend (Mollon 1996; Janczewski 2003); children exploited by an abusive daycare attendant, (Finkelhor and Williams 1988; Bybee and Mobrey 1993) or priest (Sarson and McDonald 2006); or a vulnerable child trafficked into a paedophile ring while in institutional care (Tremlett 2002).

Symptoms victims exhibit typically include:

- extremely high levels of dissociation, fear and terror,

-traumatic preoccupations with bondage, sadomasochism, self-mutilation and ritualistic iconography,

-an ingrained phobia and avoidance of doctors, police and other professionals and an orientation towards severe secrecy,

-a tendency to idealise and express gratitude towards their perpetrators, and attempt to protect them from discovery and prosecution.