According to the British "Daily Mail" reported on July 25, Dr. Gillie Jenkinson, 69, had strayed into a cult in the 1970s and fled after seven years of brainwashing and control. Today, she is committed to helping the victims of the cult return to normal life.
When Jenkinson was 22 years old, he often went to church to pray, and thus met members of an extreme sect. As his association with the member deepened, Jenkinson also became curious and interested in the sect. The member then told Jenkinson that he wanted to live with her and hoped Jenkinson would move to his community, and Jenkinson agreed.
Jenkinson told reporters: "I thought I had joined a friendly community, but I didn't expect it to be a cult. I lived there for 7 years – I was originally a lively extrovert, but since then I've become a different person. ”
▲ Young Jilly Jenkinson Source: The Daily Mail
Jenkinson gave the example of the atmosphere of oppressive terror within that community: "The leader of this cult has arthritis and he would tell us that whenever he felt 'someone made a mistake,' his hands hurt." "People are often punished for his hand pain, but in fact this is nonsense. Jenkinson had also been punished for this, she didn't know what she had done wrong, but at that time she was overwhelmed by the terrible atmosphere, so frightened that she had to admit that she had made a mistake, and then they hit her dozens of times with bamboo sticks. At the time, though she was frightened, she had not yet repulsed the group—she had been brainwashed into thinking that it was not the cult leader who wanted to punish her, but that God wanted to do so.
In addition, cult control also involves other aspects, such as the cult leader will stipulate what brand of food they eat and what type of clothing they wear. At the same time, all people's money and property must be dedicated to the cult leader, and no one can be an exception. "When you don't have the money, you can't leave, and you're cut off from your family and friends, and you end up living in this group."
Jenkinson lived in the group for many more years, until other female followers called the police for sexual abuse, and the cult group was discovered by the police and subsequently disbanded. Jenkinson now runs a counseling center dedicated to helping former cult followers.
▲ Today's Gilly Jenkinson Source: The Daily Mail
Jenkinson shared the same experience as a man named Ian Howorth, who also joined a cult in the 1970s. He was shopping at the mall when a good-looking woman spoke to him and asked him if he would like to join a quit aid club for a fee, and promised to make Haworth quit smoking successfully, and if he didn't, he would get a full refund. With a try,around, Haworth paid $1,500 to join the mutual aid society.
▲ Ian Haworth Source: The Sun
In that so-called mutual aid, Haworth meditated 16 times — which he was told would help him quit smoking. Then all the behavior in the mutual aid society was the same as that of the cult: brainwashing, wealth collection, meditation, behavior control, and so on.
Fortunately, a media outlet soon exposed the mutual aid society's behavior, and Haworth was able to escape smoothly, but the experience of the mutual aid club had a serious impact on his psychology, causing him to question the people and things around him for a long time. He told the British "Sun" reporter: "Many people do not believe that there are also cults in Britain, thinking that they will never be in danger of falling into a cult, but it is precisely those who hold this view that are most likely to become the targets of cult groups." ”
Haworth was interviewed in 2018, when there were nearly 1,000 cults in the UK alone. According to data released recently by the British charity The Family Survival Trust (FST), this number has soared to more than 2,000.
▲ Secret cults disguised as "retreats" are emerging all over the UK Source: The Sun
The continuous increase in the number of cults has made those victims who have fallen into cults not only feel afraid, but also worry about the future.
Film and documentary filmmaker Bexy Cameron, who grew up in the cult "Sons of God," spent most of her life searching for an answer to why her parents raised them in a dangerous cult. Every time, she wonders, "Where's the government?" Where are the social service agencies? Who protects the children when parents are not eligible to be guardians? ”
▲ Bessie Cameron Source: inews.co.uk
Tom Sackville, a former minister of government at the Conservative Party in Britain, said: "Those crooks exploit innocent people without the law to protect them." Government departments now urgently need to take measures against the long-standing abuses of these cults. For more than four decades, these conditions have been deteriorating. ”
Ian Haworth, like Gilly Jenkinson, now has a charity dedicated to helping victims who have fallen into the cult. But they think it's more important that their governments improve the law as soon as possible to better protect victims who have fallen into the clutches of cults due to the surge in cult numbers.