Abuse linked to faith or belief

Leethen Bartholomew

l.bartholomew@sussex.ac.uk

Learning Agreement

Accept Differences

Everyone Participates

Respect Diversity

Constructive Criticism

Culture of Learning

Confidentiality

Self-care

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 (therio-morphism), spirits and animals with powers.

Witchcraft

• Witchcraft ≠ Spirit possession

• Witchcraft ≠ Wicca

• 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.

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Beliefs Systems

• Physical realm

• Spiritual realm

• Cyber realm

Spiritual

Physical Cyber

Behind every What is a Who

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

•Over-

independence •Rebelliousness

•Disobedience

•Disrespectful

•Intelligent

• Resentful

•Jealous

•Malicious

•Envious

•Insolent

•Indolent

•Stealing

•Sleepwalking

•Enuresis

•Soiling

•Talk to

themselves

•Violent

•Eat human

flesh

•Casting spells

•Nightmares

•Can cause

sterility

•Can cause

natural

disasters

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

There is a need to appropriate blame for the suffering that many people endure in their lives and this leads to victims being scapegoat.

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:

Witchcraft

Migration Immigration

problems

Domestic

violence

Gang

involvement

Divorce/

separation

Death

Financial

problems

Sexual

exploitation

FGM

Behind every

‘What?’ is a ‘Who’

Looking for a solution

Scapegoating the Most Vulnerable

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

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

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 • 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 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 co-ordination 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.

Mark

HIV

Sexual

Vulnerability

(Iceland)

Personality

disorder

Suicidal

ideation Financial

Exploitation

Faith & Family

Sexual abuse

Accusations

of spirit

Possession

35 evils

Church

Religious rituals

Spiritualist

Belief: soul

sacrificed

Problems: due

to being married

In spiritual realm

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