The term ‘spiritual abuse’ is now increasingly used in relation to abuse and misconduct in religious settings. In September 2023 the Church of England’s investigation into the evangelical leader Mike Pilavachi concluded that concerns of ‘an abuse of power relating to his ministry, and spiritual abuse’ were substantiated. A 2024 report by Sikh Women’s Aid (SWA) found that 8% of the Sikh Panjabi women surveyed had been subjected to faith-based and spiritual abuse. Last November, the late Pope Francis called for spiritual abuse to formally become a crime in Catholic law. But what exactly is spiritual abuse, and could it herald a new category of civil claim? …
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Hayley Chapman-Todd, ‘Spiritual abuse: a new type of claim?’ [2025] Journal of Personal Injury Litigation (3) 148-154.
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