Creating Awareness on Sexual Abuse in Ayahuasca Communities: A Review of Chacruna’s Guidelines

Abstract

While the Guidelines for the Awareness of Sexual Abuse in Ayahuasca settings may appear to be overly directive, risking the allegation of telling individuals what they can and cannot do with their own bodies, it would be disingenuous not to advise individuals who will be placing themselves in an unfamiliar setting, an already inherently vulnerable context, of what the typical basic ground rules are and what some of the high-risk probable occurrences might be. With knowledge of the Guidelines in advance of ayahuasca events, individuals can be aware of common manipulative techniques that sexual abuse perpetrators typically employ