starz

Actually I was in the courtroom when it happened because I gave my victim impact statement that day with fourteen other people. I was so happy and in all honesty, it was hard to take it all in. I feel like I’m still actually absorbing what a huge victory that was for all of us. I felt a sense of closure and relief that I really needed. And I also felt very supported and empowered by the other people who shared their truths. But it did take a lot out of me and I’m still trying to catch up on sleep. -IO

Thank you for reaching out. I hope that you get to watch Seduced at one point because my mother and I have worked really hard to build our trust and love back and you get to see that in the series. I feel really proud and honored that I get to have my family back in my life. -IO

What’s true in cult groups is that the leader will decide what he or she has in mind for you and if, in this case, Keith felt he could use you in another way he would then derail you from the original goal you had of moving up the levels in order to make money and instead would get you involved in whatever activity or alternate group or alternate path he decided upon all the while convincing you that this was the better path for you with success defined in other ways besides making money. DOS was a way of showing your success by being specially chosen and making you feel that this was your way to develop your strength and resolve and commitment after which you might then think you’ll be allowed to go back on track to move farther up in the executive levels. But of course that decision will ultimately be up to Keith and once again he will convince you he knows what’s best for you. Keith also did not need for people to move up certain levels to make more money from the group and for the group as much as an MLM does because he was being bank rolled and had money to spare. - RB

Most people will ask the victims of cults how they could let this happen to them, but people don’t often ask why it is that all of us are prone given the right set of circumstances to be seduced, to be influenced, to do things that are wrong for us, dangerous for us and against our better instincts. Our minds are malleable because of an evolutionary need for survival by being social animals and by being influenced by others and to be able to influence others originally for our own safety, but it can also be used to put us in grave danger without our awareness and by somebody who is all too good at manipulation, like Keith, knowing how to take the breaks off of the runaway train that is in our minds. So it’s a bigger question than what makes Keith tick and why India found herself in this horrible situation because it’s about what we all need to recognize in our minds that we need to learn how to protect. Seduction isn’t just sexual. Seduction is a form of intense manipulation that lowers our boundaries and draws us in as though we are in a trance because somebody has tapped into the part of our brain that is the same part of the brain that can make you feel like you’re high off a drug and it quiets the parts of the brain that are our safety nets that engage our critical thinking and our reasoning and judgment. We have to learn, no matter how appealing and forceful the seduction seems to be, to consistently keep that part of our brain working and awake in order to keep us safe. If you know you’re potentially prone to this kind of influence, make sure to surround yourself with people who will help bring you back down to earth and help you see what’s happening and take in all the evidence of your senses and people who will gently but consistently help you take your blinders off. Manipulators know how to put our blinders on and sometimes when we want the magic they’re offering to be true and real, we keep those blinders on longer than is safe for us to do so. This is part of the human condition and we need to understand it as such and not blame the victim, but learn to protect ourselves from those who want to play on and prey on our susceptibility to influence. -RB

Thank you so much for your kindness! So, unfortunately, there wasn’t a final straw but a series of revelations that got me closer to seeing the truth of what NXIVM really was. It wasn’t until I really started distancing myself that I was able to actually have the space to think and have my own opinions but there have been many significant moments along the way. A lot of it I had to do on my own but I also had help from my friends and family and professionals to begin to heal and understand what I had been involved in. -IO