Cults don’t look the same everywhere, and the myths people use to reassure themselves — “that couldn’t happen to someone like me” — tend to break down fast once you compare notes across communities. ICAM’s Cults Across Cultures webinar brought together three survivors and a researcher to do exactly that.
Why this conversation matters
Dr. Tabitha Chapman, PhD-c, opened the panel by naming the myth she hears most often, especially in the wake of a new documentary: the assumption that people from certain cultures or backgrounds are somehow immune to cults. The panel’s goal was to dismantle that assumption directly, using first-person accounts from communities that rarely get discussed in mainstream cult-awareness coverage.
“One of the myths that I see frequently … is people from certain cultures don’t fall into the trap of cults.”
— Dr. Tabitha Chapman, PhD-c
Three journeys, three cultural contexts
Nikki G.
Nikki G. traced her path through cult involvement back to what she calls her “first cult” — a narcissistic family system within a religious Black household. Her experience spanned multiple groups over time, and shaped her current work in cult awareness and trauma recovery. She pushed back on the tendency to minimize what she and others like her went through.
“Many people label cult characteristics … as just church hurt, but it’s so much more.”
— Nikki G.
Rachel Reign
Rachel Reign joined the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God at age 13. She described a recruitment strategy that specifically targeted ethnic communities, using shared cultural and religious language to build fast trust.
“They exploit the culture of that area to lure people in … they know … they’re gonna find devout Christians.”
— Rachel Reign
Ryan Anthony Hernandez
Ryan Anthony Hernandez brought a different cultural lens: as a Hispanic member of a predominantly Filipino group, he watched recruitment tactics work to separate him not just from his family, but from his own cultural identity.
“Cults are very strategic … to separate them from their family and ultimately from their culture.”
— Ryan Anthony Hernandez
How culture shapes recruitment
A clear thread ran across all three accounts: cults don’t recruit generically, they recruit locally. Groups study the specific pressures, histories, and vulnerabilities of a community and build their pitch around them. Panelists pointed to a few recurring patterns:
- Recruiters target areas with real, unaddressed social or economic needs, then position the group as the answer.
- In communities with deep historical ties to religious institutions, leaving a harmful group can carry the added weight of generational and cultural expectation.
- Language matters — panelists noted that concepts like gaslighting and coercion don’t always have equivalent, widely understood terms in every community, which can delay recognition of what’s happening.
Toward stronger legal protection
Rachel Reign argued that legislative change is a necessary part of prevention, not just individual awareness. She pointed to two concrete asks: expanding coercive control laws so they apply outside of domestic relationships, and closing the loophole that currently allows conversion-therapy-style practices to continue inside religious settings.
“With cults … they all have coercive control in common … it’s the common denominator.”
— Rachel Reign
What prevention actually requires
The panel closed on a practical note. Ryan Anthony Hernandez pointed out that without shared vocabulary for coercive tactics, entire communities can go years without a way to name what happened to them. All three speakers called for the same broad interventions: education that starts young, training for healthcare providers who are often the first to hear a disclosure, and open conversations about boundaries within families — before a crisis, not after one.
Nikki G. offered the panel’s closing thought, and it’s as good a summary of the throughline as any:
“If we want to see … people avoid cults, exit cults, heal from cults, we’re going to have to … connect with the different cultural cult experiences on the planet.”
— Nikki G.
Resources mentioned
RAINN — the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — for immediate emotional support in the U.S., dial 988.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline — support and resources for anyone experiencing abuse.
The Freedom Train Project — year-round support for survivors of cults and coercive control.
Panelists also recommended Daniel Shaw’s Traumatic Narcissism: Relational Systems of Subjugation as further reading on cult dynamics and recovery.
About the panelists
Nikki G. — nikkigspeaks.com
Rachel Reign — @survivinguniversaluk
Ryan Anthony Hernandez — Truth That Heals podcast
Dr. Tabitha Chapman, PhD-c — @tabbymarie
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