Surviving 'Doomsday' and learning to live again
Australian Claire Ashman spent nearly a decade in a doomsday cult; she was 36 and had eight children when she left.
Australian Claire Ashman had a strict religious upbringing and grew up isolated from the outside world. She was taught to always obey her husband so, when he decided to join a doomsday cult, Claire had no choice but to follow. The community lived behind a barbed wire fence and continually prepared for the end of the world. But the reality was even more sinister - teenage girls were becoming pregnant and nobody was talking about how. Claire knew that in order to keep her family safe, she needed to escape. When she eventually did the world was waiting for her and Claire embraced it.
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Emily Naylor
(Photo: Claire Ashman. Credit Caroline Mitchell)
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Wed 1 Feb 2023 12:06GMT大象传媒 World Service
- Wed 1 Feb 2023 18:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Wed 1 Feb 2023 23:06GMT大象传媒 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Thu 2 Feb 2023 00:06GMT大象传媒 World Service South Asia
- Thu 2 Feb 2023 03:06GMT大象传媒 World Service except South Asia
Featured in...
Cult behaviour—Outlook
Stories exploring the destructive power of cults and the people who survive them