Ritual abuse is an extreme and sadistic form of abuse against children and non-consenting adults. Molesters of innocent children have no mercy as they psychologically, physically and emotionally torture their victims to carry out their orders. When the victims are finally released, they are forbidden to speak about what happened to them, for fear that they or their families will be killed. Ritual abuse occurs in all regions of our country (MacDonald & Sarson, 2002); This article will present concrete statistics to support this claim. This article will also explain what ritual abuse is and provide background information, explain why it happens and the effects it has on victims. According to Harvey Wallace's book, in reference to the Los Angeles County Commission for Women in 1989, the most widely used definition of ritual abuse is: "A brutal form of child abuse consisting of physical abuse , sexual and psychological and involving the use of rituals. Ritual does not mean satanic. However, most survivors report being ritually abused as part of Satanic worship with the intent of indoctrinating them into Satanic beliefs and practices. Ritual abuse rarely consists of a single episode. This usually involves repeated abuse over a prolonged period of time (Wallace, 2008). These forms of abuse are: Ritual child abuse is the repeated mistreatment of children by their caregivers through acts such as animal cruelty and threats or harm to the child, an animal or other people; Cult ritual child abuse is the repeated abuse of children by a religious group and/or...... middle of paper ......y be the only way to help them cope with the life (Suite 101.com, 2001). Ultimately, ritual abuse is something that isn't talked about enough, let alone taken seriously enough. Knowing that children are tortured, assaulted and abused in various ways should be enough for anyone who takes the initiative to learn more about ritual abuse in order to put an end to it if possible. There is concrete documentation of cases of ritual abuse that no one should have to endure. Not only is it difficult enough to undergo the rituals, but the after-effects the victims suffer are just as socially and mentally crippling as enduring the abuse a second time. Children and animals should not have to endure ritual abuse. It's time for the public to be more informed about this topic and know that this is happening and it needs to be stopped..