Cultural Practices and Child Abuse Among Ethnic Minorities.

“In one case a mother was accusing her 15-year-old daughter of witchcraft and keeping her out of school. Social services were struggling to help because the mother thought they [the practitioners] were sent by the devil. It was only by working with the local church and the police that the mother was won round and eventually allowed her child to access education,”

If you don’t want to isolate families, it’s important to identify the motive of the abuse and consider whether it’s premeditated or simply down to a lack of knowledge. Working with the faith sector may also provide better outcomes for the child than if a purely secular perspective had been used.

Clearly, social workers need proper ­support to resolve these complex cases. But many still receive no training. “You’ve got to know about the African way of life and how it works if you’re going to solve these cases, and If you’re allocated a case and you have no idea about Africans let alone this complicated practice, you are going to ignore it. It goes on all the time, and children die as a result. Something has to be done.”

Children accused of witchcraft – also known as “spirit possession” and “juju” – are alleged to be using supernatural powers to control people or events. A “witch child” may be blamed for causing a disability, breaking up a marriage or starting an illness. Once made, these accusations can be used to justify serious physical, emotional or sexual abuse, frequently in the name of “exorcising” the child. In the few cases researchers have analysed, the perpetrators tend to be carers – often not the natural parents – and the abuse generally takes place in the home.

Families where accusations of witchcraft are putting children at risk must be handled sensitively, Pull has found. Trying to convince carers that their beliefs are wrong or misguided will almost certainly fail, and risks insulting their culture. The best way forward is to work in partnership:

The faith sector may also provide better outcomes for the child than if a purely secular perspective had been used.” – Community Care.

Charities like Afruca are campaigning to make the allegation of witchcraft a criminal offence.