Ritual Abuse has existed for centuries. Authenticated descriptions (eg government documents) outlined ritualized and organized murders in the 16th century. Older survivors from transgenerational groups have been told of activity taking place in the nineteenth century. Survivors have described activity in all western countries, and we now have survivors coming forth from the east. Survivors have been telling the police, media, pyschiatrists, etc for many, many years about devil worship, organized murders, etc., However, they had been labelled "mad" or "liars" because society could not deal with the issue. The media particularly has invisibilized it. Either it does not mention the ritualistic aspects such as a satanic symbol and which could then signpost an organization and networking; or it describes them in sensationalist terms and being within isolated cases.
In the mid nineteen eighties, psychiatrists and counsellors started to believe survivors. By then widespread sexual assault and organized pedophilia, domestic violence, violence against minorities eg gay and lesbian people, etc was validated. Society was also opposing war (organized homicide) and understanding how entrenched violence was and still is. Very sensitive and rational counsellors and psychiatrists could therefore accept that ritual abuse existed.
Media stories could also validate (unfortunately, not consciously and directly) its existence. The 1969 Manson murders of Sharon Tate and her friends in the United States were ritualized and organized. Many people went missing for no apparent reason (seen as kidnapped and generally killed in ceremonies by survivors); cults such as at Jonestown, Waco, etc suicided on mass; serial killers left satanic markers eg Belangelo Murders in New South Wales, etc.
Successful court prosecutions from around the world also validated the existence. Satanic style murders, exposing organized pedophilia with cult overtones and connections, etc showed that there were not isolated cases but networking and a widespread nature. Please see the Believe the Children pedophilia awareness group's compilation of ritual abuse crimes at
The Ritual Abuse, Ritual Crime and Healing Webpage.
The major societal validation is occurring within the uncovering of different elements. This is mainly happening within government enquiries. For examples, the 1996/7 New South Wales Wood Royal Commission into the Police Service revealed organized pedophilia; and the 1996 US Senate Inquiry in Government Mind Control revealed the same brainwashing methods abused in ritual abuse organizations. Even though the Wood Royal Commission emphatically said that "ritual abuse did not exist", survivors can benefit by the important aspect of organized pedophilia being accepted.
A rational viewpoint can also be used. Why is it that survivors from all over the world, and who have never met each other, can explain the very complicated and technical forms of both the rituals and the indoctrination? They have been also doing this for at least twenty years. For example, programming brainwashing involves specific stages, methods and abuse of machinery, etc. This information only now exists publically through survivors coming forth.
Society generally is opening up to understanding widespread abuse. As seen with the Wood Royal Commission, it generally accepts something that has been exposed at length (eg organized pedophilia), and at the same time finds it difficult (even defensive) to accept further abuse (eg ritual abuse). Looking at disclosure and belief over time, society in the last twenty years has progressed very well. It has accepted the existence, and then seriously challenged war, widescale sexual assault, domestic violence, violence against minorities, organized pedophilia and mind control. Ritual abuse, will by progression, be the next form of abuse to be accepted and eradicated.
.Abuse awareness starts mainly at a grass roots level. All the previous campaigns eg gay liberation began with people talking at a local level to either each other, counsellors, support generally, etc. This is where ritual abuse awareness currently (2000) is at. Survivors are getting together at workshops, through webpages and email groups, support groups in counselling centres, etc, to validate and support each other and campaign for societal validation and opposition.
In Australia, government and religious counsellors, incest and sexual assault groups, and womens and mens liberation groups all generally accept the existence of ritual abuse. Individuals within the media, police, education, etc and psychiatrists and counsellors in private practice also support this. Institutions generally are either non accepting, defensive or cautious. The public has an awareness that secretive criminal organizations, (the Ku Klux Klan and mafia) and very destructive cults exist. It would not be difficult to expose that other such cults/organizations of a satanic, nazi, druidic ideology exist also.
It is all important to talk with counsellors, agencies, journalists, etc that believe or at best are open to believing it. It is not good for the victim/survivor, their supporters and society generally to be not heard or invalidated. It also takes a lot of time and energy to do this. There is broad support and counsellors who will listen to survivors and supporters.