In a cult, both women and men suffer in the iron grip of charismatic and authoritarian cult leaders, however, women followers face a unique set of life-altering issues — and those unique issues often become the focus of media coverage of cult cases.
According to Alexandra Stein, the author of “Terror, Love and Brainwashing: Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems”, Women’s right to control their bodies, their child-bearing, their sexuality and their mothering are all taken away in cults as the leader grabs control of these most intimate parts of their lives.
The Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MeK) is one of these cults which has confined hundreds of women to its walled compound, once in northeast Iraq and now in southeast Europe, on the pretext of protecting their rights. A number of violations of women’s rights have been reported so far by a number of its defected members and international rights groups and institutions.
Habilian Association has published a bulletin which contains ten articles covering the issue of Women’s rights abuses within the MEK camps.
The bulletin be may be accessed here.