⁣Last April, Argos started an investigation among victims of organized
sexual abuse. More than two hundred people shared their story via an
online questionnaire, which was drawn up with the help of various
experts. Participants speak candidly about abuse at sports clubs and
boarding schools, about loverboys and sects. Some of those stories have
already led to a series of broadcasts. In another part, we initially
tended to put the explanations aside. Too controversial, too
unbelievable. One hundred and forty of the stories would - if the
reporters report to the police - be labeled "ritualistic features". That
is sexual abuse, in which all kinds of macabre aspects also play a
role. Satanic candlelight rituals, torture, but also the ritual
sacrifice of babies. In the Netherlands, it is arranged in such a way
that reports with ritual characteristics must be forwarded at an early
stage to the LEBZ - the National Expertise Group on Special Sexual Cases
of the police. The goal of the LEBZ is to prevent false accusations.
They argue that no evidence of Ritual Abuse has ever been found in the
Netherlands or elsewhere in the world. The prevailing view among legal
psychologists is that the horrific memories of victims are not
authentic, but are discussed in therapy. Is that true? Shouldn't their
statements be taken as seriously as any other sign of serious sexual
abuse? Argos spent a year researching the stories of victims, analyzed
the sometimes shocking overlap in their stories and tested the
assumptions about ritual abuse on the basis of experts at home and
abroad.