http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2009/11/01/churches_in_nigeria_denounce_children_as_witches/
Child witches in Nigeria
November 2, 2009 by PDESAllegations of witchcraft causing panic at Kissy Low Cost Housing Estate
October 14, 2009 by PDEShttp://awoko.org/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=6904&cntnt01returnid=15
Accused woman burned to death
October 8, 2009 by PDEShttp://www.dispatch.co.za/article.aspx?id=350350
Qui sauvera les enfants ’sorciers’ jetés dans les rues?
October 5, 2009 by PDEShttp://ipsinternational.org/fr/_note.asp?idnews=5504
“Breaking the Cycle of Fear: Witchcraft, Juju and Safeguarding Victims of Human Trafficking”
October 5, 2009 by PDESSeminar on 25th November 2009
Central London
Time: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
About AFRUCA
AFRUCA – Africans Unite Against Child Abuse is a leading charity promoting the rights and welfare of African children in the UK. We are a UK based charity working exclusively with victims of child trafficking from Africa.
Background:
Traditional belief in witchcraft and juju rituals is strong in Africa and traffickers are known to employ it to coerce and subjugate their victims. Many victims of human trafficking are made to take oaths of allegiance, secrecy and confidentiality to bind them to their traffickers, ensure compliance and guarantee the repayment of the huge sums of money claimed to be owed for transporting the victims to Europe and for their upkeep. Many victims, fearful of the repercussions of the oath taken are compelled to endure their suffering in silence without recourse to help and support. The fear of Juju makes it extremely difficult for agencies to support victims and for the authorities to investigate, prosecute and bring suspected traffickers to justice.
How can UK practitioners better understand the needs of young people who are under the spell of Juju in order to intervene successfully?
Aims of the seminar:
• To explore the role of juju in the growth of human trafficking
• To examine the link between the trafficking of African Women and Children and the use of Juju rituals as a method of coercion and submission
• To explore the role of juju rituals in hindering victim support and in the prosecution of suspected traffickers
• To explore how to empower victims of trafficking to overcome their fears of juju.
Outcome expected:
A better knowledge and understanding of how to support and empower victims of trafficking living in fear of Juju and how to secure their co-operation in prosecuting traffickers
Guest speakers:
• Mr. Andy Desmond, Detective Constable, New Scotland Yard Human Trafficking Team: Witchcraft and juju as barriers to effective prosecution of traffickers. Our experience at New Scotland Yard
• Ms. Debbie Ariyo, Founder and Director of AFRUCA: The Impact of Witchcraft Abuse on Victims of Trafficking in the UK
• Dr. Esohe Aghatise, UN Expert on Trafficking and Director of Associazione Iroko Onlus, Italy: Working with Victims of Trafficking in Italy: Addressing Juju as a hindrance to Safeguarding Victims
• Mr. Godwin E. Morka, Head of Lagos Zonal Office, NAPTIP Nigeria: Addressing Human Trafficking at Source: Countering the power of Juju on Victims – Our Experience at NAPTIP Nigeria
Who should attend?
• Child Rights Practitioners
• Policy Makers, Immigration and Borders officials
• The Police
• Social Workers
• Lawyers, Barristers and Immigration practitioners
• Faith groups
• NGOs – local and international
Fee: £65 per delegate
Registration:
Please complete attached booking form and return with payment to Cherifa Atoussi, Anti Child Trafficking Officer,
Post: AFRUCA London Office, Unit 3D/F Leroy House, 436 Essex Road, London N1 3QP
Email: cherifa@afruca.org. telephone: 0844 6608607
Please note that places are limited and will be on a “first come first served” basis.
Killing of ‘witches’ on rise, UN says
October 5, 2009 by PDEShttp://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Killing+witches+rise+says/2042103/story.html
Tanzanian Government likes to keep the facts to itself
October 5, 2009 by PDEShttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/tanzanian-government-likes-to-keep-the-facts-to-itself-1797663.html
Witch Hunts Are Now An International Epidemic
September 25, 2009 by PDEShttp://wildhunt.org/blog/
UN publishes IHEU statement on witchcraft in Africa
September 25, 2009 by PDEShttp://www.iheu.org/un-publishes-iheu-statement-witchcraft-africa
Killing of women and child “witches” on rise, U.N. told
September 24, 2009 by PDESBy Robert Evans
GENEVA (Reuters) – Murder and persecution of women and children accused of being witches is spreading around the world and destroying the lives of millions of people, experts said on Wednesday.
The experts — United Nations officials, civil society representatives from affected countries and non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialists working on the issue — urged governments to acknowledge the extent of the persecution.
“This is becoming an international problem — it is a form of persecution and violence that is spreading around the globe,” Jeff Crisp of the U.N.’s refugee agency UNHCR told a seminar organised by human rights officials of the world body.
Aides to U.N. special investigators on women’s rights and on summary executions said killings and violence against alleged witch women — often elderly people — were becoming common events in countries ranging from South Africa to India.
And community workers from Nepal and Papua New Guinea told the seminar, on the fringes of a session of the U.N.’s 47-member Human Rights Council, that “witch-hunting” was now common, both in rural communities and larger population centres.
HOMELESS CHILDREN
Gary Foxcroft of British-based charity Stepping Stones- Nigeria said children living homeless on the streets in many countries had been driven out by families or communities because they were suspected of being witches.
But increasingly children suspected of witchcraft — usually on the basis of vague accusations — were being killed because their parents feared they would have to take them back if the authorities identified them.
Ulrich Garms from the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the seminar that there were no reliable statistics on how many women and child “witches” were killed annually around the globe.
Other U.N. officials tracking the problem said deaths ran into at least tens of thousands, and beatings, deprivation of property and banishment and isolation from community life meant victims of “witch frenzy” ran into millions.
Speakers at the seminar agreed that poverty, exacerbated by the current world economic crisis, often lay behind the phenomenon as people sought to find scapegoats for their misfortunes and the illnesses they suffered.
But some preachers of major religions and governments were also responsible, they said.
(Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Louise Ireland)
By Robert Evans
GENEVA (Reuters) – Murder and persecution of women and children accused of being witches is spreading around the world and destroying the lives of millions of people, experts said on Wednesday.
The experts — United Nations officials, civil society representatives from affected countries and non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialists working on the issue — urged governments to acknowledge the extent of the persecution.
“This is becoming an international problem — it is a form of persecution and violence that is spreading around the globe,” Jeff Crisp of the U.N.’s refugee agency UNHCR told a seminar organised by human rights officials of the world body.
Aides to U.N. special investigators on women’s rights and on summary executions said killings and violence against alleged witch women — often elderly people — were becoming common events in countries ranging from South Africa to India.
And community workers from Nepal and Papua New Guinea told the seminar, on the fringes of a session of the U.N.’s 47-member Human Rights Council, that “witch-hunting” was now common, both in rural communities and larger population centres.
HOMELESS CHILDREN
Gary Foxcroft of British-based charity Stepping Stones- Nigeria said children living homeless on the streets in many countries had been driven out by families or communities because they were suspected of being witches.
But increasingly children suspected of witchcraft — usually on the basis of vague accusations — were being killed because their parents feared they would have to take them back if the authorities identified them.
Ulrich Garms from the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the seminar that there were no reliable statistics on how many women and child “witches” were killed annually around the globe.
Other U.N. officials tracking the problem said deaths ran into at least tens of thousands, and beatings, deprivation of property and banishment and isolation from community life meant victims of “witch frenzy” ran into millions.
Speakers at the seminar agreed that poverty, exacerbated by the current world economic crisis, often lay behind the phenomenon as people sought to find scapegoats for their misfortunes and the illnesses they suffered.
But some preachers of major religions and governments were also responsible, they said.
(Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Louise Ireland)
