UK Satanic Abuse Scare, 25 Years On
A Druid Addressing the People by Samuel Griswold Goodrich from A Pictorial History of England (Philadelphia: E. H. Butler & Co, 1854, p:18) | PUBLIC DOMAIN.
5 July 2016 | 6.30pm – 9.15 pm
Wine Reception 5.30pm
In the late 1980s and early ‘90s the media portrayed Pagans as satanic, large-scale ritual child abusers. Definitively disproven by a thorough government-funded investigation, the scare is nonetheless of significance for understanding public perceptions of and reactions to new religious movements, British society at the time, and ideas about Paganism. We will revisit the scare with first-hand accounts of what it was like for Pagans, and how it ended as a result of thorough research and investigative journalism.
The speakers are:
Jean La Fontaine, Prof Emeritus, LSE & Honorary Research Fellow, Inform
Prudence Jones, former president of the Pagan Federation
Phil Hine, Co-founder and co-editor of Pagan News
Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist, Deputy Director of Inform
Sarah Harvey, Research Officer at Inform
Rosie Waterhouse, Director of MA in Investigative Journalism, City University London and freelance journalist
This event is hosted jointly between Inform and Treadwells, and all are welcome. The evening starts at 5.30 with a wine reception and small exhibition of periodicals and ephemera of the era, courtesy of Phil Hine and the Inform archives. The lectures will begin at 6.30.
Tickets: £15 – Call 0207 419 8507 or book online at www.treadwells-london.com/event/uk-satanic-abuse-scare-25-years-on/