She came out of retirement to take cults to court.

In this episode, litigator Carol Merchasin joins us to explain how the law actually works when someone tries to hold a high-control group accountable, and why coercion is the hinge everything turns on. Carol spent years defending companies against sexual harassment claims before an investigation into sexual misconduct in a Buddhist community, Shambhala, pulled her into this world. She worked pro bono as an independent investigator for Buddhist Project Sunshine, and her findings landed on the front page of The New York Times.

We dig into the "why didn't they leave?" problem, the difference between physical and psychological freedom, and how Carol builds a case by mapping what she calls systems of coercion: isolation, information control, engineered financial dependency, sleep deprivation, and forced labor. She explains why human trafficking law—sex and labor trafficking, with its force, fraud, or coercion standard—has become one of the few usable legal tools, how the NXIVM case created precedent for civil suits, and why courts are barred from judging belief but not behavior.

Carol also walks us through the P. Diddy and OneTaste cases, the limits of consent law, mandated shunning, and her push to expand legal remedies beyond sex and labor. She explains how she found ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association), why its interdisciplinary mix of survivors, clinicians, academics, and lawyers matters, and what she'd like to see next.

Follow ICSA at internationalculticstudies.org or on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube, and Carol on LinkedIn.

Trigger warning: This episode contains frank discussion of sexual assault and misconduct, clergy abuse, coercion, human trafficking, forced labor, shunning, institutional cover-ups, and legal proceedings involving abuse.

Also…let it be known that:

The views and opinions expressed on A Little Bit Culty do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the podcast. Any content provided by our guests, bloggers, sponsors or authors are of their opinion and are not intended to malign any religion, group, club, organization, business, individual, anyone or anything. Nobody’s mad at you, just don’t be a culty fuckwad.

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CREDITS:

Executive Producers: Sarah Edmondson & Anthony Ames

Production Partner: Citizens of Sound

Co-Creator: Jess Tardy

Audio production: Will Retherford

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Theme Song: “Cultivated” by Jon Bryant co-written with Nygel Asselin

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