Ritual abuse is the abuse of a child, weaker adult, or animal in a ritual setting or manner. In a broad sense, many of our socially sanctioned actions can be seen as ritual abuse, such as military basic training, hazing, racism, spanking children, and partner-battering. Public ritual abuse may be either open or secret.

The term ritual abuse is generally used to mean prolonged, extreme, sadistic abuse, especially of children, within a group setting. The group's ideology is used to justify the abuse, and abuse is used to teach the group's ideology. The activities are kept secret from society at large, as they violate norms and laws.

Ritual abuse should be distinguished from ritualized abuse. Ritualized abuse does not require a "systematic" component and is merely abuse that takes place in a repeated, formalized manner. It is the difference between the religious rituals associated with Easter, and the mundane ritual of brushing one's teeth and going to bed. As well as including a political or religious justification, ritual abuse is generally characterized by extreme physical and sexual abuse, and often by taking place within a group of adults, whether it's a family or a social organization of some kind.

Sanctuary Unlimited helpfully isolates some of the basic emotional elements of ritual abuse affecting children: "Absolute control over the child; Mind games; Abuse of power; Twisted words that say one thing yet mean another; Insistence that there are certain right ways to do things; Absolute thinking about worship; Cruel savagery against children performed in the name of love."

Any ideology can be twisted or adapted to abusive ends. In the United States, Canada, and Europe, people have reported being ritually abused under the banner of satanism, Christianity, various pagan and pantheistic belief systems, white supremacy movements, nazism, Santeria, voodoo, etc. At the present time, satanism is either the most common ideology under which ritual abuse is practiced, or it is receiving the most attention.

Most sexual abuse of children is, theoretically, ritualized. Abusers use repetition, routine and ritual to force children into the patterns of behaviour they require, to instil fear and ensure silence, thus protecting themselves. Sexual abuse of a child is seldom a random act; it usually involves the abusers in thorough planning and preparation beforehand.

Some abusers organize themselves in groups to abuse children and adults in a more formally ritualized way. Men and women in these groups can be abusers with both sexes involved in all aspects of the abuse. Some groups use complex rituals to terrify, silence and convince victims of the tremendous power of the abusers. Some abusers organize themselves around a religion or faith and the teaching and training of the children within this faith often takes the form of severe and sustained torture and abuse.

Ritualized child sexual abuse is about abuse of power, control and secrecy. Ten years ago many people found it difficult to believe that fathers actually raped their children, yet survivors of such abuses spoke out and eventually began to be listened to and believed. Ritual abuse survivors, when they try to speak out about their experiences, face denial and disbelief from society and often fear for their lives from the abusers.

People generally use the word ‘ritual’ quite liberally when talking about ritual abuse but because survivors are usually reluctant to go into any specific detail about what this actually means, many people are left with a very vague sense of what occurs.

Many different religions of the world have their own particular trappings, symbols, language and set routines or rituals that they carry out at regular prescribed times, places and in a particularly revered manner. They have their hierarchy, ordained ministers of the faith and followers or worshippers. They employ methods of teaching the faith to the children from a relatively young age and often have particular levels of attainment, initiation and acceptance into the faith. These things are part of the worship and reverence of the people involved in the faith and as such are extremely important and powerful to them. These religions are mostly harmless to people and for many help them live a fulfilled and meaningful life.

Secret religions and groups that survivors talk about often behave in exactly the same manner as legitimate churches, at least to a point. Many things described in catholic worship and other religions are done to some degree in cults and satanic worship. The big difference is that some of the secret religions are extremely abusive of some people during the worship, are praying to a different god, and the rituals are designed to control and terrify victims. Many of the abusers claim to be believers in their faith and intent on worshipping their own deity in their own way, but groups which incorporate abuse as part of their worship will not do so openly as to do so would, quite rightly, lead to prosecution in this and most other countries of the world.

Ritual abuse survivors may have been forced to involve others in abusive acts but as free adults we all have choices. Survivors may sometimes believe themselves to be abusive because of a situation they were forced to be in, but that does not mean they are. Survivors of ritual abuse are no more likely to become abusers than anyone else.