Journal of Social Work Education and Practice, Volume 5; Issue 3, 01/07/2020
Child Accusation of Witchcraft – Another Road into Trafficking
Ifeyinwa Mbakogu 1
1 Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Canada
Child Accusation of Witchcraft – Another Road into Trafficking
Ifeyinwa Mbakogu 1
1 Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Dalhousie University, Canada
ABSTRACT: Child accusation of witchcraft has been the focus of global media reporting however, with limited academic research. The children that participated in the study were accused of witchcraft by Pastors invited for deliverance or revival programmes in their towns. Based on these accusations, the children were brutalised by fellow church members, into confessing or revealing the source of their witchcraft powers. The children ranged from 5 years to 17 years and were resident in several farming communities in Nigeria prior to their accusation of witchcraft and departure from home. Within this paper, children present reasons behind their accusation of witchcraft; and children’s efforts to escape their accusers while avoiding personal and family stigma by securing their deliverance at the hands of a Pentecostal Pastor. That journey from home, made the children susceptible to trafficking. The study recommends that research should be directed at children’s agency in withstanding the trauma of witchcraft accusations, the efforts made by some parents to back or prove their children’s innocence thereby shielding their children from ostracization or stigma resulting from witchcraft accusations, and further understanding of the child accusation of witchcraft – child trafficking link.
Keywords: child witchcraft accusation; child witchcraft; child trafficking; stigma; faith-based abuse, child abuse, religion, spirituality
Keywords: child witchcraft accusation; child witchcraft; child trafficking; stigma; faith-based abuse, child abuse, religion, spirituality