During the 1980s and early 1990s, a wave of hysteria swept across the United States. Sensationalist media coverage and tabloid covers fueled wide-spread public fears that children were being sexually abused in Satanic rituals at the hands of their caretakers. In several high-profile cases, dozens of day care providers were criminally charged, sometimes facing hundreds of counts of sexual abuse.

The so-called Satanic Panic did not emerge in a vacuum. It coincided with a rise in conservative political and social influence and a broader backlash against feminism and LGBTQ+ rights. In the 1960s and 1970s, more women joined the workforce, increasing reliance on day care. At the same time, queer identities became more visible amid gradual legal and cultural shifts. These developments were widely perceived by social conservatives as threats to traditional family and sexual norms. Conservative Christian media figures in the 1980s—often described as “moral entrepreneurs”—helped amplify fears of satanic ritual abuse.