WUNRN
Cristina De Rossi MA Social Anthropology,
Professional Writer on Gender, Anthropology &
Social Justice
Statement for the Witchcraft Accusations
Panel at the UN Commission on the Status of Women Session 59, NYC, 11th
March 2015.
Witchcraft Accusations as a Means of Social Control & Targeting of
Women & Children in a Global Context
Witchcraft accusations can be
horrific, even deadly manifestations of violence against women and children,
innocent but victimized by belief systems or sorcery, pagan traditions,
fabricated explanations or scapegoating for unexplained illnesses or deaths, even
jealousies or competition for power and scarce resources. Witchcraft
accusations can also be a pretext for the exploitation of those already
marginalized and vulnerable, as with widows and children.
For a growing number of women and children in
Africa, India, Asia and Oceania, accusations of Witchcraft are still equivalent
to a sentence of persecution, torture and death. And, with global migration,
displacement, the manifestations of Witchcraft accusations are spreading
further in this world. Still, it is at the local and especially the rural level
that Witchcraft accusations more often prevail.
Women in a range of Sub-Saharan African
countries such as Tanzania, Congo, Ghana, South Africa, and Central African
Republic are beaten, tortured and driven out of their villages, often by their
male relatives, if they are suspected of having caused harm by magic. In Ghana
women are forced to flee to 'Witch Villages' for their own safety, after being
persecuted, abused and banished by their community and relatives. In India, in
the last 5 years alone, thousands of people, mostly women, were officially
reported to have been beaten, forced to eat excrement, mutilated, fatally
stabbed, set on fire and beheaded following accusations of being witches, often
by their own community. In Saudi Arabia female domestic servants, have been
beheaded under accusation of Witchcraft and sorcery. Elderly and very young
women have been burnt and stoned to death in Nepal, Papua New Guinea and
Colombia. Children are also targeted, particularly if they are in any way
perceived to be different, marginalized as street children: children with
albinism, children affected by disabilities, orphan children. The list, as well
as the gruesome variety of ‘punishments’, could go on and on.
Anthropology has often explained Witchcraft
accusations and beliefs as a way of regulating social conflict, and of dealing
with individuals who threaten the social order by being somehow outside the
accepted norm. And it is true that, in 2015, as in the Middle Ages,
'Witches' are often women, perhaps elderly and/or newly widowed, likely to
become a burden on the village or community, or perhaps they are market traders
who have accumulated independent wealth. They may have fallen out with their
male relatives or their spouses, or perhaps they have offended someone senior
in the village, or rejected their sexual advances. It is also possible for a
man to accuse his current wife as a Witch, if he wishes to take a new wife!
Wealth accumulation by women is seen as using up
the community's resources, particularly if that community is experiencing
economic hardship, and young men are unemployed. In fact, it is often these
young men who act so viciously as self-styled witch-patrol vigilantes. Women
who determine their own reproductive power are also dangerous. For instance,
independent single parents, or elderly widows with property of their own, are
seen as not available sexually to men, therefore a potential threat.
By not fitting neatly into gender roles, these
women have become liminal, or, in other words, they appear to have fallen
through the cracks of society. Witchcraft accusations offer a ‘legitimate’ way
to deal with them in certain societies.
We must be careful, however, to ascribe this
phenomenon of Witchcraft to simplified notions of culture and tradition. In
fact, religious and spiritual beliefs occur within specific historical and
cultural contexts. Violence against women as a result of Witchcraft accusations
has in part, intensified. The countries where Witchcraft accusations are most
lethal have also been heavily affected by rapid, dramatic political and
economic changes. Seismic events such as decolonisation, economic development,
civil unrest and war have created new mountain ranges of hierarchies, and widened
rifts between urban and rural communities. In addition, just like in medieval
Europe, newly emergent potential elites are suspected, or poorer members of
society are targeted. In Nepal the accused are often Dalit -low caste- women.
In Saudi Arabia, migrant domestic servants. Earlier anthropological studies
found that Witchcraft was believed to be innate in some individuals – so one
could not ‘become’ a witch- and could only be performed amongst kin or
local communities. In current times with media and technology, awareness of
Witchcraft accusations has increased. And, worse still, with family
fragmentation the restructuring of kinship has made children vulnerable to
accusations, abuse and exploitation.
Urban Witchcraft can now be bought by anybody who
is wealthy enough; what's more, it is more powerful, and can travel, even as
far as Europe and the United States, where children have been identified by
their carers and adoptive families as carriers of Witchcraft. This is perhaps
the most disconcerting development. In original studies of Witchcraft beliefs,
a witch would become more powerful with adulthood and age. Witchcraft could
exist in children, but was too weak. In the present day, since Witchcraft can
be bought, it can also be passed on to children. Children who are orphaned,
different in any way, who have a disability, autism, albinism, are more likely
to be accused. There are already reports of how, In HIV-AIDS and Ebola-stricken
countries, young orphans of victims have been labelled witches and cast out of
their villages by their own communities. Other youngsters might be left in the
charge of carers who are unable or unwilling to look after them, and who fall
prey to 'preachers' charging extortionate fees to exorcise troublesome child
witches.
Though there may, indeed, be laws in place
against Witchcraft in all its manifestations, and/or the crimes resulting from
Witchcraft, these laws may not be enforced, and tribal or community law may
even prevail over civil law.
Even if the word "Witch" is not used
directly, a woman can be labeled as being "haunted by evil spirits,"
and a threat to her family and her community. She quickly becomes stigmatized,
isolated, discriminated, abandoned, chased away, or physically abused and even
murdered. This can all happen very quickly, and the accused woman may not have
access to support systems.
Another dimension is the relationship between
gender and Witchcraft: it can mirror perceptions of power in a society.
Witchcraft powers by women are almost always bad, while in men they are more
ambiguous, and can even be a source of authority. The Chiefs of Ghana's Witch
villages are invariably men who can detect Witchcraft, and offer women
much-needed rescue in exchange for money. It is male Shamans and Witch Doctors with
supernatural powers who accuse or absolve women of Witchcraft in India and
Nepal. Power and money are often factors behind Witchcraft accusations, as
exorcism and witch-hunting are very lucrative businesses.
A Witchcraft accusation in many countries is,
essentially, a licence to abuse and kill, often directed against the most
vulnerable members of society. This is still happening in the 21st
century. It is the entire world's responsibility to address this.
Reactions of horror and shock are not enough. I believe that the cultural,
social and economic context of these beliefs is the outcome of all our common
history and actions, and that we need to address it as such, as a global
community. Continued research, information dissemination, and rapid response,
are all important to end the human rights violations of Witchcraft Accusations.
Thus, it is positive that Witchcraft Accusations have been a programmatic theme
at the United Nations in Geneva and New York.
Cristina De Rossi