Surviving Universal UK group. Credit: Surviving Universal UK.
Surviving Universal UK is a survivor-led national campaign for victims of spiritual and cultic abuse.
The Campaign
Surviving Universal UK (SUUK) is a survivor-led national campaign founded in 2022 by Rachael Reign to address the systemic lack of support for victims of spiritual and cultic abuse. It is the UK’s only Black-led organisation specialising in this area, with a distinct focus on culturally competent support for Black and Global Majority survivors.
Established from lived experience, the campaign emerged in response to a critical gap in services, where survivors were unable to access support that understood the cultural, spiritual, and structural dynamics shaping their experiences. SUUK operates as both a frontline support network and a national advocacy platform, powered by a growing survivor community and a lived-experience-led leadership team.
Its core strategies include survivor advocacy, digital mobilisation, national media engagement, independent research, and the development of the UK’s first culturally competent training on spiritual and cultic abuse, driving change across public understanding and safeguarding responses.
Surviving Universal UK founder Rachael Reign. Credit: Surviving Universal UK.
Being shortlisted for an SMK National Campaigner Award recognises a movement built to fill a critical gap, where survivors of spiritual and cultic abuse, particularly from Black and Global Majority communities, had nowhere to turn. Surviving Universal UK was never just about awareness; it was about building what should have already existed. This recognition reflects the courage of survivors and the urgency of a safeguarding system that must do better. When lived experience is centred, we do not just tell stories, we change systems.”
Rachael Reign
Founder, Surviving Universal UK
The Change
Since its launch, Surviving Universal UK has supported approximately 2,000 survivors in the UK and internationally, providing culturally competent guidance where no dedicated services previously existed. The campaign has built a growing digital community of over 7,000 people, creating a visible and accessible support network for survivors who were historically isolated and underserved.
SUUK has played a key role in shifting national awareness of spiritual and cultic abuse. Through strategic media engagement, including contributions to BBC Panorama and multiple Guardian investigations, the campaign has brought survivor experiences into mainstream discourse. This visibility has contributed to wider institutional recognition, including the Crown Prosecution Service’s updated guidance acknowledging spiritual abuse and violent exorcism practices.
At a policy level, SUUK has launched a parliamentary petition calling for the formal recognition of cultic abuse within UK safeguarding frameworks, securing over 300 signatures within its first month. The campaign continues to engage with local authorities, safeguarding professionals, and policymakers to address systemic gaps.
Crucially, SUUK has redefined the narrative, establishing cultic abuse as a national safeguarding issue that disproportionately impacts Black communities.
The Future
The next phase of Surviving Universal UK focuses on systemic reform. This includes securing formal recognition of cultic abuse within UK safeguarding frameworks, progressing legislative change to extend coercive control protections beyond domestic settings, and scaling the delivery of culturally competent training to frontline professionals nationwide.
Over the next three years, SUUK aims to embed cultic abuse into statutory safeguarding responses, establish clear reporting pathways, and ensure culturally competent support becomes standard practice. The long-term goal is a national system that can identify, respond to, and prevent abuse within high-control environments.
Who else was involved?
Rachael Reign; Dion Harry; Robin, BBC Panorama; multiple Guardian investigations; National Working Group Against Spiritual and Ritual Abuse; and Ban Conversion Practices Coalition.
