The French interdepartmental task force of surveillance and combat against sectarian drift (“mission interministérielle de vigilance et de lutte contre les dérives sectaires”, Miviludes) defined a sectarian drift as follows:
“This is an abuse of the freedom of thought, opinion, or religion that infringes on public order, laws or regulations, fundamental rights, security, or the integrity of individuals. It is characterized by the implementation, by an organized group or an isolated individual, regardless of its nature or activity, of pressures or techniques aimed at creating, maintaining, or exploiting in a person a state of psychological or physical subjection, depriving them of part of their free will, with harmful consequences for that person, their entourage, or for society.” [emphasis ours]“This is an abuse of the freedom of thought, opinion, or religion that infringes on public order, laws or regulations, fundamental rights, security, or the integrity of individuals. It is characterized by the implementation, by an organized group or an isolated individual, regardless of its nature or activity, of pressures or techniques aimed at creating, maintaining, or exploiting in a person a state of psychological or physical subjection, depriving them of part of their free will, with harmful consequences for that person, their entourage, or for society.” [emphasis ours]
