OneTaste

OneTaste Incorporated, currently operating as The Institute of OM, is a business sponsoring seminars, classes, workshops, lectures, and discussion groups around the practice of "orgasmic meditation" (OM).

OneTaste describes orgasmic meditation as an activity in which a participant (usually male) strokes the genital area of a female participant while she concentrates on the resulting physical sensations.

Quotes

• CAP-LC writes that the OneTaste case “illustrates how easily sensational narratives can influence legal proceedings and how quickly unconventional spiritual practices can be recast as criminal acts.” The organization expresses hope that the appeal will address these issues and that future prosecutions will remain grounded in evidence, proportionality, and respect for fundamental freedoms.
  • Alessandro Amicarelli, "The OneTaste Verdict Criticized at the United Nations Human Rights Council", Bitter Winter (June 15, 2026)

• With Daedone’s conviction, Hassan appears to have obtained the “legal precedent” he sought, linking trafficking, “cults,” and “brainwashing” theories. Whatever the merits of investigating specific allegations of sexual abuse at OneTaste, the trafficking-brainwashing theory endorsed by the court establishes a dangerous precedent for all spiritual and self-help groups, especially those promoting unconventional teachings about eroticism.
  • Massimo Introvigne, "“Brainwashing,” Steven Hassan, and the OneTaste Case. 2. The Prosecution of Nicole Daedone", Bitter Winter (April 8, 2026)

• The two female leaders of OneTaste, an organization promoting female spirituality and sexual awareness, were hit by the first-ever U.S. forced-labor conspiracy conviction against the leaders of a meditation and spiritual-teaching organization—without any allegation of physical restraint and solely based on “coercive control.” While OneTaste’s roots are more in Eastern spiritualities than in Christianity, the first-degree convictions constitute a precedent dangerous for Christian churches as well.
  • Massimo Introvigne, "Now They Come for Jesus: Anti-Cultist Admits She Aims to Destroy Christianity", Bitter Winter (July 16, 2026)

• The case has unsettled scholars of religion, legal analysts, and observers of minority movements. The reliance on psychological influence as a basis for forced‑labor convictions echoes debates that have shaped the modern history of new religious movements. Theories of brainwashing, long dismissed by courts and academic researchers, reappear in moments of public anxiety, often amplified by media narratives. In the OneTaste proceedings, their revival created a climate in which subjective accounts of influence were treated as evidence of coercion, and excluding testimony further narrowed the field of interpretation, leaving the jury with a portrait of the organization shaped by its most critical former participants.
  The implications extend beyond OneTaste. CAP‑LC’s intervention pointed to a structural risk: when trafficking law is stretched to encompass psychological persuasion, any spiritual community, meditation school, or therapeutic group becomes vulnerable to prosecution based on contested interpretations of belief and belonging. The organization’s reference to constitutional limits was a reminder that the U.S. Supreme Court, in “Kozminski,” warned against definitions of coercion so broad that they criminalize ordinary forms of influence present in religious, educational, and familial life.
  The sentences imposed on Daedone and Cherwitz have also raised humanitarian concerns. CAP‑LC’s call for reconsideration hinted at the possibility of a presidential pardon, which will restore fairness to a case that was unfair from its beginning.
  The intervention in Geneva carried an urgent tone. It suggested that the OneTaste case may become a precedent invoked against communities whose teachings diverge from mainstream expectations. The Human Rights Council, accustomed to examining abuses committed by states, was asked to consider how legal systems in democratic countries may also drift when public pressure, sensational narratives, and discredited theories converge.
  • Massimo Introvigne, "OneTaste: A Warning in Geneva Against the Misuse of Trafficking Laws", Bitter Winter (September 25, 2026)

• Our reporting on OneTaste has always focused on the principle that minority spiritual movements should not be criminalized because their doctrines and practices appear unconventional. [UCLA’s Professor Eugene] Volokh’s brief expresses, with constitutional precision, concerns that we have documented through interviews, trial coverage, and analysis. The use of “spiritual coercion” as a legal category, reminiscent of the discredited theory of “brainwashing,” the transformation of voluntary religious labor into forced labor, and the rhetorical denigration of a group as a “sex cult” create risks for many religious communities.
  I agree with Professor Volokh’s analysis and with his warning that the Government’s theory endangers monasteries, convents, and other environments where work, communal life, and spiritual dependence form part of a vocation. I hope that the Court of Appeals will take his arguments seriously and will ensure that criminal law is not used to punish religious teachings, communal commitments, and voluntary service to a spiritual community under the dubious label of “spiritual coercion.”
  • Massimo Introvigne, "“Trafficking” and Spiritual Movements: Constitutional Scholars Enter the OneTaste Debate", Bitter Winter (October 1, 2026)

• The OneTaste case has already been described as a warning in Geneva. Warsaw added a new layer, placing the issue within the OSCE framework and linking it to commitments on fundamental freedoms. CAP-LC’s oral statement was not an apology for OneTaste’s teachings or practices. It focused on the legal theory used to secure the convictions and on the risk that similar theories may be applied to other communities. Minority movements, mainstream religious organizations, and innovative therapeutic groups may all be affected by a precedent that treats psychological influence and spiritual authority as sufficient grounds for trafficking charges.
  …The issues raised by the OneTaste case and by the interpretation of the TVPA will continue to unfold in courts, legislatures, and academic debates. CAP-LC’s short declaration, delivered in a few minutes, added an important voice to this ongoing discussion and reminded participating States that trafficking legislation designed to combat genuine exploitation should not become a tool for punishing belief, teaching, and voluntary communal life.
  • Massimo Introvigne, "The OneTaste Case Reaches Warsaw’s OSCE-ODIHR Meeting", Bitter Winter (October 12, 2026)