[W]ithin this practice system, to think critically of one’s teacher is to damage one’s mind and to impair one’s progress toward enlightenment, thus risking disaster.”

In the context of [one] survivor’s long relationship with her teacher – which became sexual and which she eventually characterized as abusive and traumatic – the erosion of self also resembled a grooming process in which she was encouraged to distrust her own ethical intuitions and conventional understandings. Olivia recalls reflecting on her teacher’s effort to isolate her from her friends and family, and even from her own past, in explicitly Buddhist terms.”

In 2017, the #MeToo movement exposed sexual and other forms of abuse among Tibetan Buddhist lamas operating in Europe and North America.”

It is patently clear, for example, that the potent combination of religion, sex, power and secrecy have, in the past, had disastrous effects on individuals and groups, and that any system which bases itself on these forces is always susceptible to abuse.”

The concept of grooming is well known in the study of sexual violence. It shows how the physical and psychological boundaries of a potential victim can be gradually infringed upon, softened up, and broken down, right up to and including to the prosecutable moment of assault. It shows that sexual assault is often the endpoint in a creeping betrayal of trust.”

[T]he term ‘sexual violation’ …captures ‘a broad set of events beyond those involving explicit forms of violence,’ and acknowledges ‘structural constraints on consent.’ “

As [Linda Martin Alcoff] explains ‘To violate is to infringe upon someone, to transgress, and it can also mean to rupture or to break. Violations can happen with stealth, with manipulation, with soft words and a gentle touch to a child, or an employee, or anyone who is significantly vulnerable to the offices of others.’ “

While the survivors we were able to interview all identify as female, this is not true of all survivors of abuse in Buddhist contexts…[list of publicized examples of Buddhist abuse targeting cis-men]…This reflects general statistics on sexual violence, which, according to RAINN, impacts women (and girls) at high rates.”

Many survivors had reported to us that they felt as harmed by poor institutional and community responses to the abuse as by the abuse itself.”

[T]he model of clergy misconduct recognizes that consent is not possible between clergy and congregants. As of 2025, fourteen states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws that make it illegal for clergy to engage in sexual misconduct with adult congregants.”