Abuse linked to faith or belief
Leethen Bartholomew
[email protected]
Learning Agreement
Accept Differences
Culture of Learning
Everyone Participates
Confidentiality
Respect Diversity
Self-care
Constructive Criticism
Caricature/Romanticise
Quiz
How would you react if you broke a
mirror?
a. You'd be horrified at the thought of seven
years bad luck.
b. You'd just ignore it and admire yourself in
the piece that wasn't broken.
c. You'd try and repair it in the hope that it
might at least spare you a couple of years of
bad luck.
•Do you believe that people can see and
communicate with the dead?
a. Yes
b. Possibly
c. No
If a black cat crossed your path, would you?
a. Hope that it was going to be your lucky day
b. Cringe, because you don't like cats
c. Think nothing of it, as you're not superstitious
Behind every
‘What?’ is a ‘Who’
Reality is, very largely, what a community agrees to be real
Prof. Anthony Gittins Professor of Missiology at the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago
Victoria Climbié
Thought to be possessed by evil
spirits burnt with cigarettes, tied
up for long periods, and hit with bike chains, hammers and
wires.
The police, the social services department of four local
authorities, the National Health Service, the National Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), and local
churches all had contact with her, and noted the signs of
abuse.
Laming report, published on 28 January 2003, found that the
agencies had failed to protect her. On at least twelve
occasions, workers involved in her case could have prevented
her death, particularly condemning the senior managers
involved
CASE STUDY
Child B 2003
"She pulled out a
little knife and she
did little marks on
me. I was bleeding.
The three of them
surrounded me and
one kicked me, one
slapped me and one
pushed me. I asked
myself,
What have I done?"
43 Injuries
Naila Mumtaz
Smothered in her Birmingham home in
2009 when she was six-months pregnant.
Her husband and three members of his family were
jailed for life in 2012 for the murder, which was carried
out in an attempt to rid her of an evil spirit (Djinn).
They claimed in court that Naila's father had killed her
with djinns sent from Pakistan which was 5,000 miles
away. In court they took full advantage and exploited
the confusion in Naila's family being so far away on a
different continent, the language barriers and cultural
sensitivities.
The perpetrators still accept no responsibility and have
no remorse blaming djinns sent from Pakistan for the
deaths.
Three-month-old Samira Ullah
Sitab Ullah(26) child's father:
following the death of his
father, he became paranoid
after taking crack cocaine
and heroin. He said ‘He was
not hurting her, he was hurting
the thing inside her’
Found guilty of murder and
will serve at least 20 years. His
wife Salma Begum got 15
months after admitting child
neglect
Kristy Bamu
15 year old boy from Democratic
Republic of Congo. Murdered by his
sister and her boyfriend who believed
that he was a witch.
Episode of bed wetting triggered final
violent murder.
Tortured with 'an armoury of
weapons' and had 101 injuries before
drowning during an exorcism in flat in
Newham, London.
What is Witchcraft
• It is associated with the invisible world and the spirits and
powers believed to exists there that affect the real world.
• It is a negative, malicious force. The deliberate intent by
people in conjunction with spirits or the spirits directly
themselves to inflict harm.
• Witchcraft is the art of doing evil.
• The visible and Invisible worlds are intertwined
• Characteristics include: bi-location, psychic cannibalism,
being able to fly, being able to take animal form (theriomorphism), spirits and animals with powers.
Witchcraft
• Witchcraft
• Witchcraft
• Wicca
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Spirit possession
Wicca
Satanism
–The (alleged) use of supernatural means to
reach a desired outcome
–“witch” means a child who is able to use evil
forces to harm others.
Spirit Possession:
• The belief that an evil force has entered a child & is
controlling him or her.
Individual taken over by a spirit
• Almost universal
• Voluntary to involuntary
• Benign spirits to malignant
• Positive outcomes to negative/dangerous ones
• Can affect individual, family, community
• Self identified or identified by others
• In context of faith, tradition, culture
– or ‘abnormal’ to communities or traditions
The role of Faith
Abrahamic Traditions
Judaism
• Belief in Satan and demons/devils in writings from 300BCE (Dybbuk)
Christianity
• Biblical basis
• Across denominations
• Spiritual Warfare doctrine
• Receiving the Holy Spirit as spirit possession
– ‘Gifts of the Spirit’ - healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues
Islam
• Jinn spirits (Qu’raan Al-Baqarah 2:275 )
Other traditions
Hindu traditions
• Possession by spirits/ghosts Misfortune
• Shamanism, Voodoo, Santeria, Candomble
Mosquito
•Belief systems serve in helping people understand
their social world. That is, they help people perceive,
interpret, and predict events (e.g., predicting whether
people will succeed or fail) and select courses of action
(e.g., deciding whether to help a victim of misfortune).
•Moreover, although people's belief systems may be
stable over time, and have even been considered
personality traits, some belief systems can change
through personal experience, as will be discussed.
Beliefs Systems
• Physical realm
• Spiritual realm
• Cyber realm
Behind every What
is a Who
Spiritual
Cyber
Physical
Why accusations occur: Macro
•Countries where the political, familial and socio-economic
fabric of society have collapsed children are left in a
vulnerable state and this may increase the risk of them
being accused of witchcraft (Powles & Deakin, 2012).
• Cimpric (2010) suggests that accusations are symptomatic
of societal “multi-crises” as a result of poor governance,
rising inequalities and poverty
•The belief system combined with the destabilization of
African family life and inter-generational relations due to
capitalism, which demands an individualistic culture, as
opposed to a collectivist culture (Hanson, 2013)
•Briggs et. al (2011) concluded that in relation to accusations
within the African community in the UK, they are a
marginalised and isolated group
Perceptions of Childhood
• “By the law of England, a parent… may for
the purpose of correcting what is evil in the
child, inflict moderate and reasonable
corporal punishment, always, however,
with this condition, that it is moderate and
reasonable.” Chief Justice Cockburn 1860
National Action Plan
Engaging Communities
Empowering Practitioners
Supporting Victims and
Witnesses
Communicating Key Messages
The 'Different' Child
Many children who have been accused of
witchcraft or Spirit possession exhibit physical,
emotional or mental characteristics that set them
aside from others. This may include:
Physical
Signs
Character
Behaviour
Invisible
Signs
•Disability
•Bedwetting
•Nightmares
•Illness
•Physical
abnormality
•Epilepsy
•Ugliness
•Learning
disability
•Mental health
•Autism
•Stammering
•Deafness
•Overindependence
•Stealing
•Eat human
flesh
•Casting spells
•Nightmares
•Can cause
sterility
•Can cause
natural
disasters
•Rebelliousness
•Disobedience
•Disrespectful
•Intelligent
• Resentful
•Jealous
•Malicious
•Envious
•Insolent
•Indolent
•Sleepwalking
•Enuresis
•Soiling
•Talk to
themselves
•Violent
The Family Environment
Children are more likely to be accused if they are:
• Orphans of one or more parent
• Reconstituted family
• Fostered/adopted
• Living with "aunties" and "uncles“
• Newly arrived in the UK.
• Victim of trafficking e.g. domestic house help / sex
worker
Understanding Misfortune
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There is a need to appropriate blame for the suffering that
many people endure in their lives and this leads to victims
being scapegoat.
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There is often a belief that nothing happens in the physical
realm without some form of influence in spiritual realm.
Accusations of witchcraft and spirit possession are often
reactions to external factors in the lives of the accuser(s)
such as:
FGM
Financial
problems
Sexual
exploitation
Death
Gang
involvement
Witchcraft
Migration
Immigration
problems
Divorce/
separation
Domestic
violence
Behind every
‘What?’ is a ‘Who’
Looking for a solution
Scapegoating the Most Vulnerable
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Abuse linked to belief in witchcraft and spirit possession may
occur where someone is treated as a scapegoat for perceived
failure. Whilst specific beliefs, practices, terms or forms of
abuse may exist, the underlying reasons for the abuse are
often similar to other contexts in which vulnerable children or
adults become at risk.
These reasons can include family stress, deprivation, domestic
violence, substance abuse and mental health problems.
Someone who is different in
some way, perhaps because they have a disability or learning
difficulty, an illness or are exceptionally bright, can also be
targeted in this kind of abuse.
Mental Health
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Mental health conditions such as schizophrenia,
post-traumatic disorder and depression may be
considered as signs of witchcraft or spirit
possession.
In addition to this people who are suffering mental
health problems may also believe that they are
under attack from witchcraft and/or evils spirits.
Both of these perspectives may need to be
considered when carrying out assessments.
Behind every
‘What?’ is a ‘Who’
Looking for a solution
What Role Does the Media Play?
Safety Behaviour
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Carried out by the faith leader, elder or relative this
process involves using the following methods in order to
deliver the victim from perceived witchcraft:
Regular prayer sessions, which may often last many
hours and be carried out well into the early hours
Fasting: Restricting food and drink for many hours,
sometimes days, is a common tool in deliverance
Physical restraint: Those undergoing deliverance can be
kept in isolation, chained and beaten
Anointing with oil: Sometimes victims are forced to drink
concoctions, often made with olive oil, in order to drive the
witchcraft from out of them
Eating “Holy” food: eating certain types of food can
protect you from magic e.g. Ajwa dates
Using protective paraphernalia: Nazar, amulets, charms,
written prayers placed on door or under the pillow
SUSUK
Hijama
Pointers
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Who is the accuser & abuser?
Who is the victim?
What is the role of faith leaders?
Who has influence over the family?
Is there an international dimension or media?
How much does it cost?
What are the outcomes for victims?
What are the outcomes for siblings/other children?
What is the relationship of the child to family?
How is the family being treated by the community?
What type of safety behaviour is being employed?
What is the outcome if the safety behaviour is not
working?
Challenges: Don’t know what you
don’t know
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Staying child centred
Knowledge base of professionals
Professionals unclear about nature of concern
‘Religion-blind’ or ‘belief-blind approach’
Not reflecting chaos of the family
Risk assessments cannot eliminate risk
Many different professionals making communication and coordination difficult
Supervision
Support services ill-equipped or not available to provide
appropriate support e.g. parenting programme: need tailor
made intervention and support
Case 4
11 year old Mark has a learning disability
and functions at the level of a 4 year old
lives with his mother and 18 year old sister.
Mother came from Ghana 20 years ago and
they are Pentecostals. Mark disclosed to his
school teacher that he was hit by his mother
with a shoe and the case was referred to
children social care.
Sexual
Vulnerability
(Iceland)
HIV
Problems: due
to being married
In spiritual realm
Sexual abuse
Accusations
of spirit
Possession
35 evils
Belief: soul
sacrificed
Mark
Church
Religious rituals
Personality
disorder
Spiritualist
Suicidal
ideation
TV Evangelist
Financial
Exploitation
Faith & Family