21st Century Witchcraft Accusations and Persecution

Summary

In many countries throughout the world, being accused of witchcraft, black magic or other forms of evil, can result in serious violations of human rights including, at the most extreme, torture and death. Women, children, the disabled and the elderly are particularly vulnerable to these forms of abuse. This is still a world-wide phenomenon that remains largely unrecognised: The extent and distribution of it is largely unknown and, as yet, no formal mechanism exists to record, monitor or respond to such violations. To establish an idea of the global spread of the various spiritual beliefs that result in violations of human rights, WHRIN monitored online media reports in 2013 of cases of abuse and the interventions that have been carried out by governments, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and human rights activists. This report may represent the first systematic attempt to assess the scale of the problem worldwide and responses
to it.