Editing Rajneesh movement (section)

===Allegations of sexual abuse of children===
Rajneesh supported sexual freedom and non-monogamy, and former members reported widespread [[child sexual abuse|sexual abuse of children]] in the community.<ref>{{cite web | last=Abbott | first=Carl | title=Rajneeshees | website=  The Oregon Encyclopedia | date=2024-10-21 | url=https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/rajneeshees/ | access-date=2026-03-09}}</ref> A survivor recounted that she and her friends were pressured into sexual acts with adult men in the commune. For her, it started at the age of seven and it culminated in rape at the age of twelve.<ref>{{cite web | title=UK Woman Recounts Sexual Trauma In Osho's Cult | website=www.ndtv.com | date=2024-09-29 | url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/survivor-of-bhagwan-shree-rajneeshs-sex-cult-reveals-decades-of-abuse-6675679 | access-date=2026-03-09}}</ref> Another survivor told of sexual acts that started when she was ten years old.<ref>{{cite web | last=Carroll | first=Sarito | title=My abuse in the Osho Rajneesh cult has haunted me for decades. Now I'm ready to speak out | website=The Guardian | date=2024-10-12 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/12/abuse-rajneesh-cult-children-communes | access-date=2026-03-09}}</ref><ref name=foryea>{{cite web | last=Richter | first=Anke | title=Forty Years After the Oregon Cult Commune: The Girl from the Osho Ranch | website=Fair Observer | date=2025-09-11 | url=https://www.fairobserver.com/culture/forty-years-after-the-oregon-cult-commune-the-girl-from-the-osho-ranch/ | access-date=2026-03-09}}</ref> She alleged that many of the teenagers on the [[Rajneeshpuram|ranch]] were pressured into sexual relationships with adults, which she characterized as [[statutory rape]] and child sexual abuse that was tolerated or concealed within the community.<ref name=foryea/> A German survivor gave a similar account, alleging that adults sexually pressured children in the commune and that some girls and boys aged 12–14 had sexual relations with large numbers of adults.
She added that adults did not object to such behaviour, which she described as being regarded as normal at the time and not concealed.<ref>{{cite web | last=Binswanger | first=Michèle | title=Bhagwan-Kommune in Zürich: «Niemand fühlte sich verantwortlich, dass Leute mit Kindern Sex hatten» | website=Tages-Anzeiger | date=2025-11-12 | url=https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/bhagwan-kommune-zuerich-so-war-die-kindheit-in-einer-sekte-809954731293 | language=de | access-date=2026-03-13}}</ref>

The 2024 documentary ''The Children of the Cult'' presents an international investigation into the Rajneesh movement<ref name=dartmo/> that focuses on accounts of widespread sexual abuse of children within the movement.<ref>{{cite web | last=Stimpson | first=Mansel | title=Children of the Cult | website=FILM REVIEW | date=2024-10-03 | url=https://www.filmreviewdaily.com/new-reviews/children-of-the-cult | access-date=2026-03-09}}</ref> It depicts an environment in which sexual themes were pervasive, children were separated from their parents, and clear boundaries were often absent. The film argues that Rajneesh and his followers sought to create a new society with its own moral code, and it alleges that this setting enabled and normalized serious crimes against children.<ref name=dartmo>{{cite web | title=Children of the Cult | website=Dartmouth Films | date=1970-01-01 | url=https://www.dartmouthfilms.com/childrenofthecult | access-date=2026-03-09}}</ref>