On Trauma Tuesday, I talked about the cycles of emotions that go hand-in-hand with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I also mentioned ritual abuse in passing, but I don’t think I have ever written a blog entry explaining what ritual abuse is. So, that will be my focus today.

If you think about regular child abuse as being like street crime, ritual abuse is more like organized crime. Typical child abuse is comitted either in the heat of the moment (physical abuse) or as an urge (sexual abuse). One abuser is involved, and that abuser wants to keep the abuse a secret from everyone.

Ritual abuse is a conspiracy of child abusers. They work together to harm the child. Rather than just focusing on meeting a perverted need, the child abusers are calculated about trying to break the will of the child. When the child’s will is broken, the child is highly unlikely to “tell.”

Some ritual abuse is tied to child pornography and prostitution. Other forms of ritual abuse are tied to satanic worship. What they all have in common is degrading the child.

Here are some examples of ritual abuse. If your adopted child mentions any of these forms of abuse, suspect that your child has been a victim of ritual abuse:

• Being watched by onlookers as the abuse happens
• Burying the child alive
• Chanting during the abuse
• Cross-dressing by abusers
• Dressing in robes or masks
• Gang rapes (can include female abusers)
• Harming or killing animals
• Locking the child in an enclosed space
• Photographing or filming the abuse
• Smearing the child with bodily fluids (urine, feces, or blood)
• Using needles, ropes, knives, spears, or crucifixes during abuse

If your adopted child was ritually abused, you need to know it because healing from ritual abuse is a much more difficult task than healing from regular child abuse. Yes, all child abuse is bad and hard to heal from. However, the level of terror instilled in a child who is tortured through ritual abuse runs much, much deeper.

If your child was ritually abused, he or she might “wig out” at the full moon, at solstices and equinoxes, and at traditional Christian holidays, such as Easter and Christmas. As the child begins to remember the abuse and/or talking about it, your child’s emotional health might take a nosedive. It is common for ritual abuse survivors to become suicidal and engage in self-injury (even if they never did before) when they begin remembering and talking about the ritual abuse.

If you suspect that your adopted child suffered from ritual abuse, get your child therapy with a qualified child therapist who has experience working with ritual abuse survivors. Ritual abuse is the most serious form of child abuse that a child can suffer. Your child will need all of the support that he or she can get to heal from it.

Photo credit: JulieC