By CATHY VON KINTZEL Truro Bureau
IMAGINE YOU'RE BEING held captive by a perpetrator who gives you the choice of two doors.
Behind one, you will be abused. Behind the other, you will be tortured.
Which would you choose?
"There's a world of difference between the two, isn't there?" asks human rights activist Linda MacDonald.
Intuitively, people know the degree of atrocity behind the torture door will be much greater, said Ms. MacDonald, who with colleague Jeanne Sarson has dedicated more than a decade of volunteer time to raising awareness of ritual abuse-torture.
Most recently, the Truro nurses and educators have had their own chapter added to a new Encyclopedia of Domestic Violence. The thick, 704-page volume was published in February by Routledge and was recently donated to Truro's public library by a local church.
The reference book delves into many issues, including elder abuse, domestic violence in rural communities, battered wives and husbands, bullying in the family, date rape, mothers who kill, parental abduction and much more.
In life and in their chapter, Ms. MacDonald and Ms. Sarson strive to show how society and the law lump so many violent acts under one word - assault.
Yet, they believe that some assaults involve acts so .cruel, inhumane and degrading. that they should be called torture and be considered a human rights issue. Anything less is like revictimizing the victims.
And they think a well-informed public would also see the difference, and that lawmakers, police, social service providers and others should acknowledge the difference.
The Criminal Code, in Section 269.1, recognizes torture at the hands of such people as police and military officials but doesn't mention individuals such as parents.
"The more information we can put out there, the safer the community becomes," Ms. Sarson said in a recent interview at the library.
"Mass education is a way to reduce domestic violence," she said, adding she hopes people who work with and come into contact with victims will read their work along with the wealth of other information in the encyclopedia.
In their chapter, entitled ritual abuse-torture in families, the women pose the example of a father who, according to media accounts in 1998, sexually assaulted his eldest son and also physically beat, scalded, burned and forced all his children to eat their own vomit and excrement.
They say the degree of violence, degradation and cruelty went beyond the definition of abuse, passing into the reality of torture.
The authors also brought together other stories they've read and those they.ve heard first-hand from victims whom they meet through word of mouth and through their website, www.ritualabusetorture.org.
They attempt to dispel any notion that all parents are caring and loving by referring to instances where those "master manipulators" gain great power, pleasure, profit and prestige from abusing, torturing and trafficking their children.
In preparation for the encyclopedia's launch, Ms. Sarson and Ms. MacDonald gathered quotes from ritual abuse-torture survivors they've come to know.
"After decades of denial and silencing, I can't tell you how powerful and validating it is to see ritual abuse-torture finally named and included in the pantheon of abuse," wrote Kelly Watt, who lives in Canada. "Bravo to those tireless crusaders . . . who have continued to speak about the unspeakable."
"For the first time, there is a written definition of ritual abuse-torture that defines the nightmare of my childhood and early adulthood," Jeanette Westbrook of the United States wrote. "All these many years, I have worked and waited for the truth and reality of ritual abuse-torture to be acknowledged and defined as the human rights violation that it is."
A copy of the encyclopedia was donated to Truro.s public library by the pastoral ministry committee of St. John's Anglican Church.
"We decided that it's something important for the community," said Rev. Lori Ramsey. Ms. MacDonald and Ms. Sarson have been guest speakers for the committee, which is focused on social justice issues.
"It's a practical way for people to get information and it may help people to come forward," Ms. Ramsey said.