Every year, hundreds of people gather for the annual conference of The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA). This event is like no other that brings together speakers and topics from across the globe to focus on cultic groups and coercive and abusive environments more broadly. In this special edition of the International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, and Manipulation (IJCAM), a selection of those presentations has been written as articles and stands as an indelible record of the exciting diversity on display at the ICSA conference. This special edition brings together newer researchers, survivors of coercive groups, and long standing contributors and professionals, all of whom are making a new and lasting contribution to the knowledge and insights in their areas of interest. This edition encapsulates the richness of the research and writing in the cultic and coercive studies field that is a wonder to behold. Featured within are an analysis of the role of drugs in human trafficking, human rights violations in polygamous sects, an investigation into media stereotypes about cults, and an experiential account of presenting research on law and religion to divergent audiences, just to name a few. These topics go to the heart of civic society and the countries we want to live and work in. The papers in this edition shine a powerful light on multiple and recurrent breaches of human rights, including the right to live free from abuse and slavery. Each of the authors’ work powerfully demonstrates the vital importance of scholarship and research that provide evidence for the effects of such violations and the antidotes and cures in policy and practice that are desperately required. Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” It is hoped that, in a small way, this edition of IJCAM allows the celestial rays to sneak into the lives of all who read it and provide some cosmic energy of hope and wisdom to sustain and embolden us a little further as we look ahead to 2023. Thank you to all the authors who gave life to this energizing array of topics.