One writer shares the story of how her mum joined the Children of God cult in 1972 (and how she escaped it).

Cults: smart women join cults too and here's how I know

I was struck by how many incredibly intelligent women I met; professors, teachers, nurses, ex-Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Women who had given up their lives, identities and jobs, just like my mother did.

It’s dangerous to consider people who join cults as ‘other’ because it means we think it could never happen to us

What it’s like to grow up in, and escape, a dangerous cult

Women and cults: what makes smart women get drawn in to dangerous cults?