Carol Merchasin
@CarolMerchasin
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I am a lawyer working on behalf of those who have been sexually abused in spiritual communities.
Joined January 2011
We'd all like to think we'd be immune to joining a cult - but we'd be wrong. I talk to @_indoctrination, @LetsTlkAbtSects, @GenerationCult, @WasIInACultPod, The Bad Buddhist and others about how to leave and how to get justice. Listen here: https://t.co/p2yo0lqIYr
open.spotify.com
Playlist · McAllister Olivarius · 19 items · 32 saves
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A cult is a community that can never allow failure or error. A woman is dead, a man has confessed to her murder and ritual assault and yet the IHOP mother church's main concern is "lack of zeal". https://t.co/kRkk4lAvbl
theatlantic.com
A former member of a tight-knit college prayer group describes his community’s disintegration—and how one of its members ended up dead.
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What sort of litigation can former cult members bring against their abusers? In this throwback to S. 3 (2023), we speak to an attorney @CarolMerchasin who does this work *New S. 4 episode coming soon! Season 3, Ep 10 Cults and Courts https://t.co/OOky6fXccn via @YouTube
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"Yes, we’re afraid, but kids who grew up in a cult have already experienced the worst day of their life in some way. Now, we want to taste life." Life, and sometimes justice and compensation. My clients are some of the strongest people you'll ever meet. https://t.co/fvyWNXobTG
independent.co.uk
Writer and director Bexy Cameron was raised in the infamous Children of God cult before escaping at just 15. She tells Helen Coffey about her stranger-than-fiction childhood, the struggles of...
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In the week since our investigation into spiking, we have received an extraordinary response from readers, writing to tell us what happened to them, their friends or family. Every phone call floored me. Here are some of them – with @NCherruault
thetimes.com
Readers have come forward to tell their experiences after our investigation into Britain’s hidden epidemic
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It's not like women collectively forget to put on our hard hats and that's why we get raped, stalked, assaulted and beaten up. Women don't need (another) "women's safety plan". We need a "men's violence plan".
I have heard, loud and clear, that too many women are left feeling unheard or unprotected. Sadiq Khan has ignored this issue for too long. As Mayor, I will bring in a women’s safety plan and appoint a women’s commissioner focused 100% on this.
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Michael O'Keefe left the Zen priesthood not because he experienced the kind of abuse my clients often have. He left because he experienced the kind of lying and manipulation that make abuse possible in the first place. Stunning piece @tricyclemag
https://t.co/fLCRuxp80L
tricycle.org
A disillusioned Zen priest renounces his vows
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Our client Ashley Grace filed her suit, because she realised could do what her students so often couldn't - “To me, it’s more about standing behind what I so deeply believe, which is that you don’t get to do this to other people,” @eshugerman
https://t.co/Fxe9yWFMCr
thedailybeast.com
Seth Sabal was previously accused by three anonymous models. Now the wife of Topher Grace is going public with her own allegations.
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And he called it "The Love Album" Last month's @Businessweek piece about Sean Combs' downfall Free link https://t.co/HkNrcqMIuS with comments from @AnnOlivarius
@devinleonard @daniellesacks
bloomberg.com
After months in court, Sean Combs withdrew his racially charged lawsuit against Diageo. A look inside that battle reveals the failed attempt of a fading hip-hop mogul—who’s been buffeted by charges...
Record producer Rodney Jones alleges the same pattern of sexual abuse that Cassie and 2 women alleged. This new suit similarly names business partners as co-defendants, under the RICO act. I wouldn't be surprised if more suits were forthcoming. https://t.co/YtXtidvGRV
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"As a Catholic organisation, Gris is not opposed to exorcisms if they are carried out by the church." The Catholic Church struggles to maintain its monopoly on exorcisms, precisely because a belief in actual demons is such a powerful cultish practice. https://t.co/yCrSBrQrDJ
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Very proud of our clients, and looking forward to bring Michael Shoemaker and The Movement Center to justice. Listen to @ThomasShults_ excellent and sensitive reporting at @KGWNews
Multiple women say a spiritual guru who once operated The Movement Center in Portland groomed and sexually assaulted them. The allegations span decades, and they're now backed by a federal lawsuit. Watch the report tonight on #TheStoryKGW at 6:30 p.m. ( https://t.co/6SiDTae1Yd)
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I see this tactic so often - our clients have been blamed and made to feel like their abuse was their own fault.
He was 39. She was 14. And yet: “It was me, without irony, who was under her spell for six years.” One way to not feel like a sexual abuser of children is to blame the child for seducing you. A classic tactic. https://t.co/xGGMiCbY2s
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I have a number of cases under the New York City Council law @willpavia mentions, The New York Gender Motivated Violence Act. The ASA kicked in a door, and our clients are still walking through it. https://t.co/bNEedX4L6H
thetimes.com
Evelyn Yang’s campaigning helped sexual assault survivors file complaints outside the statute of limitations. The window has closed — but she hopes the Trump case will force it open again
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Please join us on March 10th 2024: https://t.co/4BAVJw6gg0 If you have suffered in a Buddhist organisation, you have options and you are not alone.
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"‘What’s interesting is seeing the parallels between cult life and how we survive toxic behaviour. What I see in the corporate world is people doing similar things like giving up their own values in favour of survival and getting paid.’" Indeed. https://t.co/HwgZWNwHhC
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"The Truth" follows the same play book as so many of the spiritual communities we hold to account for sexual abuse (12 and counting). I wish healing and justice for the survivors, whatever that looks like to them. Stunning reporting by @GeorgeWright89. https://t.co/iWkDhHBt3V
bbc.com
Alleged victims say predators have gone unpunished for decades in Christian church known as The Truth.
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"My dad had fear, constant fear. He was very afraid that someone would speak up," All cult leaders have this fear. That's why every cult dynamic aims to control who can speak and who can be believed. https://t.co/AqVHGKCQi7
bbc.com
The first person to blow the whistle on the abuse at the megapastor's church was his young daughter.
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Pressler enjoyed robust institutional support and complicity from SBC. SBC should ask what it should do about the entire culture and hierarchy that allowed Pressler to abuse with impunity for decades. The man was nothing without the church. https://t.co/CVjfxS0hX9
baptistnews.com
Thank God, Paul Pressler has lived to the ripe old age of 93. That’s long enough to expose the Southern Baptist Convention’s most malevolent hypocrite to the shame of his reported double life. Just...
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Wellness influencers love to give legal disclaimers about how they're not experts, it's "just what worked for them". If someone tells you they're not an expert, believe them.
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Once a cult figures out it can get away with sexual abuse, a culture of misconduct, corruption, incompetence and abuse has formed. That culture won't stay neatly confined to sexual abuse, it will spread. Hence why taking sexual abuse seriously is smart. https://t.co/vOgJ772ant
bbc.com
New evidence suggests TB Joshua hid bodies and used intimidation to cover up the scale of the disaster.
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🚩Allegations of rape spanning decades 🚩Isolating victims in remote or guarded facilities 🚩Redefining rape as an Act of God/karma 🚩No action from authorities The actual religious doctrine doesn't matter as much as the cult dynamics. https://t.co/K9psrspQfY
bbc.com
Forced abortions and other atrocities are alleged by dozens of ex-followers of a charismatic televangelist.
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