AdvertisementVictoria needs new powers to criminalise coercive cult and fringe groups, according to a landmark inquiry into the harmful tactics used to recruit and control members. But rather than recruitment being confined to the fringe, coercive high-control groups operated in workplaces, universities, social circles and increasingly online. Dr Ahona Guha was in a cult between the ages of 17 and 23 and is now a psychologist who works to help cult survivors. AdvertisementOverall, the report found children and young people in coercive high‑control groups were among the most vulnerable and least visible in the state. Co-directors of Religious Trauma and Cults Sam Sellers and Elise Heerde said the report echoed what survivors escaping coercive high-control groups had said for years.