Witchcraft accusations against children in Africa have received increasing international attention in the first decade of the 21st century.
The phenomenon of
witch-hunts in Sub-Saharan Africa is ancient,
but the problem is reportedly "on the rise", due to charismatic preachers such as
Helen Ukpabio
Helen Ukpabio is the founder and head of African Evangelical franchise Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries based in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. She is widely accused of causing large-scale harassment and violence against children ac ...
,
[ as well as "urbanization, poverty, conflict and fragmenting communities".]
Practice
Recent reports by UNICEF
UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to ...
, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integrati ...
, Save the Children
The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...
and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
have also highlighted the violence and abuse towards children accused of witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
in Africa. Accusations of witchcraft in Africa are a very serious matter as the witch is culturally understood to be the epitome of evil and the cause of all misfortune, disease and death. Consequently, the witch is the most hated person in African society and subjected to punishment, torture and even death.
The victims of witchcraft accusations in African societies have usually been the elderly, the disabled, albinos
Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino.
Varied use and interpretation of the term ...
and anyone who was considered different. In recent years due to the impact of rapid urbanisation, economic decline, as well as the HIV/AIDS pandemic
The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...
, children have become more and more the victims of witchcraft accusations, especially orphans. Other factors of the rise of accusations include the rise of charismatic preachers such as Helen Ukpabio
Helen Ukpabio is the founder and head of African Evangelical franchise Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries based in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. She is widely accused of causing large-scale harassment and violence against children ac ...
, generational social conflicts and the deterioration of education systems. Religiously-inspired films also legitimize beliefs about children witches.[
Child victims of witchcraft accusations are more vulnerable than adult victims as they cannot defend themselves as they are confronted with physical and psychological abuse from their family and community.]
Children accused of witchcraft may be subjected to violent exorcism
Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
rituals by African Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement - Charismatic pastors who mix Christianity with African witchcraft beliefs. Such exorcism may include incarceration, starvation, being made to drink hazardous substances or even being set on fire with gasoline. In other cases accused children are expelled and end up living on the streets, are trafficked and in some instances they are killed.[
]
By country
Angola
In Angola
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, many orphaned children are accused of witchcraft and demonic possession by relatives in order to justify not providing for them. Various methods are employed: starvation, beating, unknown substances rubbed into their eyes or being chained or tied up. Many of those who are rejected by their family end up in orphanages and are shunned by the population.
The Gambia
In The Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in government detention centers in March 2009. They were forced to drink an unknown hallucinogenic
Hallucinogens are a large, diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized ...
potion, according to Amnesty International. They were then forced to confess to witchcraft, with some being severely beaten.
Uganda
Witchdoctors, who also identify as traditional healers, will consult the spirits for anyone who can pay their fee.[Jubilee Campaign and Kyampisi Childcare Ministries. (2011]
"Child Sacrifice in Uganda - report"
/ref> The spirits will communicate via them the kind of sacrifice for appeasement that they want. Often these sacrifices are chickens or goats, but when such sacrifices fail to make the client prosper instantly, ‘the spirits' will demand human sacrifices.[Rogers, C (2011)]
"Where child sacrifice is a business"
BBC News Africa (11 October).
When a child is sacrificed, the witch doctor and his accomplices will generally undertake the whole process.[ This includes: the witch-hunt, the abduction, followed by the removal of certain body parts, the making of a potion and lastly if required the discarding of the child's body.]
Nigeria
In Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
, Helen Ukpabio
Helen Ukpabio is the founder and head of African Evangelical franchise Liberty Foundation Gospel Ministries based in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. She is widely accused of causing large-scale harassment and violence against children ac ...
and other Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement pastors have incorporated African witchcraft beliefs into their brand of Christianity, resulting in a campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered. The preachers make money out of the fear, providing costly exorcism services to their parents and their communities. Human rights activists opposing the practice have been threatened and some, such as humanist Leo Igwe
Leo Igwe (born 26 July 1970) is a Nigerian human rights advocate and humanist. Igwe is a former Western and Southern African representative of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, and has specialized in campaigning against and documenti ...
, mobbed and harassed by police. One source estimates 15,000 children in the Niger Delta alone have been forced on the streets by witchcraft accusations.[
In ]Akwa Ibom State
Akwa Ibom State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered on the east by Cross River State, on the west by Rivers State and Abia State, and on the south by the Atlantic Ocean. The state takes its name from the Qua Iboe ...
and Cross River State
)
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, map_alt =
, map_caption = Location of Cross River State in Nigeria
, coordinates =
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of Nigeria, about 15,000 children were branded as witches and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets. A documentary aired on Channel 4 and the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'', shows the work of Gary Foxcroft and Stepping Stones Nigeria in addressing these abuses.
are often accused of withcraft, losing parents to the disease and community support to superstition.
According to a disputable empiric construction, sick infants tend to have better survival rates due to witch-hunts:
, it is estimated that there are 25,000 homeless children living on the streets of the capital city. Of these, 60% were expelled from their homes because of allegations of witchcraft. Accusations of witchcraft is the only justifiable reason for the refusal to house a family member, no matter how distant the relation. As result, 50,000 children are kept in churches for exorcisms.