PEACEMAKING - Reflections of a Radical Criminologist by Hal Pepinsky

The University of Ottawa Press ISBN10: 0776606409 2006 "I have mentioned that since 1993 I have come to know many people whom I believe to be genuine survivors of “ritual abuse.” These data came to me by way of parents facing loss of custody for asking that their children be protected from what they and medical professionals believed to be sexual assault while with their other parent. I have testified, borne silent witness in courtrooms, and borne vocal witness on the streets, in conferences, and in classes to countless—to me credible— accounts by those who have in the broadest category survived what in polite company we call “incest.” I have also encountered countless cases in which those who later reported having recovered repressed memories of one form or another of sexualized childhood violence have turned out to know things such as physical layouts of places where they were hurt that they otherwise could not have known. Add to this my learning from countless sources that “covert” or “emotional” incest, which might entail physical coldness and distance, could prove to be as debilitating to its survivors as the doing of anything even remotely illegal. Leave aside whether any of the stories I have heard of homicidal ceremonies is true.
Effects of a problem characterized as “incest,” including the shame and fear of being trapped in “crimes,” dwarf the trauma represented by all the personal violence reported in victim surveys, which in turn far exceed police reports." p. 84
http://critcrim.org/files/Pepinsky_proofs_0.pdf