This article originally appeared on truthdig.com Pixabay Maggie was born into a religious cult called the Christ Brotherhood. For the first 12 years of her life, the cult controlled her entire existence, including what she thought and knew, and how...
This article originally appeared on thecut.com Photo: Keith Raniere Conversations/Youtube In October 2017, the New York Times published an exposé of a shadowy “self-help” organization called NXIVM (pronounced nex-ee-um), led by a man named Keith...
This article originally appeared on Refinery29.com The story of Nxivm is as disturbing and compelling as they come — a so-called “sex slave cult,” notable for its sadistic practices (slaves, human branding, bizarre sex rituals), and also for its...
This article originally appeared on Glamour.com NXIVM turned women into slaves, branded members with its leader’s initials, and blackmailed victims into submission. It was also…on Instagram? This is what a cult looks like in 2019. Over two...
This article originally appeared on CNN.com on May 7, 2019 (CNN) — The members of the upstate New York group called Nxivm looked up to Keith Raniere as a leader who spread his ideas on how to achieve success and happiness but, prosecutors say, he...
Janja Lalich, Ph.D. is a researcher, author, and educator specializing in cults and extremist groups, with a particular focus on charismatic relationships, political and other social movements, ideology and social control, and issues of gender and sexuality.