Charity Commission for England and Wales statutory inquiry finds Rigpa put students at risk of harm from Sogyal Lakar

Proceedings

1. 2018-11-08 · statutory inquiry opened

   Charity Commission for England and Wales. The Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Rigpa Fellowship under section 46 of the Charities Act 2011 following the 2017 letter from eight senior students and the Lewis Silkin independent investigation.

2. 2020-11-20 · final inquiry report

   Charity Commission for England and Wales. The statutory inquiry found that some students of Sogyal Lakar, part of an 'inner circle', were subjected to serious physical, sexual and emotional abuse by him, and that senior individuals within the charity were aware of at least some of these issues and failed to address them, exposing beneficiaries to risk of harm. The Commission found the charity's safeguarding policies inadequate and criticised policies that 'blurred the distinction between consent and submission', placing responsibility for safeguarding on the student rather than the teacher. Former trustee Patrick Gaffney was found unfit to serve as a trustee and disqualified for 8 years under s181A of the Charities Act 2011 (effective 12 April 2019) after the inquiry found he knew of 1994 abuse allegations and failed to act. Former trustee Susan Burrows was removed as trustee under s79(4) of the Charities Act 2011 (effective 20 September 2019) and permanently disqualified from acting as a trustee or senior manager of any charity, after the inquiry found she had knowledge of abuse allegations and failed to act appropriately.

Documented coercion mechanisms

• guru devotion
• spiritual hierarchy
• institutional dependency
• safeguarding policies that blurred consent and submission