Preliminaries

This presentation draws on actual cases

Either permissions have been sought, or case details altered in such a way as to comply with legal requirements and to protect those who might otherwise be at risk

Cross-cultural defence

2006 Jacob Gobin –

£500,000 strapped to body

Defence – the witchdoctor made me do it and bound me with a spell

Global and Historic

Terminology: sorcerers /

witchcraft

The ‘Old Crone’

Women

Also other documented cases

Men

Children

It's global: not just an African

phenomenon

Re-setting in a Global

perspective

Diachronic and Synchronic

Synchronic

Diachronic

The Diachronic Dimension

Diachronic = ‘Through time’ (Vertical)

Historic examples of ‘witchcraft branding’

Pre-Christian examples

‘Dark Ages’

Medieval

C18th-C20th

The Synchronic Dimension

Synchronic = Across (Horizontal)

Non-African contemporary examples

Susuk. Islamic-derived insertion of needles. Case ‘M’ case Child of Pakistani origin. Found with non-accidental insertions. Eleven needles within her body; nine whole or parts of needles in the abdomen and pelvis, and two in the chest. They had not been swallowed

Other global examples

‘There are few, if any, African societies which do not believe in witchcraft of one type or another’. (Evans-Pritchard’s famous study of the Azande)

‘Isolated rural societies anywhere – in the dreary flats of the Landes in France, or of Essex in England, or in the sandy plain of North Germany – would always be subject to witch beliefs.’ (Hugh Trevor-Roper)

There are countless examples all over the world. Anthropologists have provided us with case studies.

The Synchronic Dimension

Witchcraft: Not this?

Problems with terminology / culture Is ‘witchcraft’ ... this?

“Witchcraft”

• For our purposes dealing with something different

• Victoria Climbie 2000

The phenomenon

Witch Child BBC2 April 05th 2006

http://www.youtube.com/user/drrichardhoskins

Kindoki - exorcism

Witchcraft

Child B case 2005 8yr

old found on steps @

Haringey. Malnourished,

tortured threatened with

death

Motive for attack was

‘Kindoki’: belief that the

child was possessed by

an evil spirit

The Murder of Kristy Bamu

• Case details

• Several days

• Extent of injuries

• The reason?

Witchcraft aka kindoki

• My role in the cases

Magalie Bamu

and Eric Bikubi

• The Thames torso 'Adam'

case

The Scale of the Problem?

• Several serious cases in UK:

– Victoria Climbie 2000

– Adam

– Child B 2005

– Kristy Bamu 2010

• But others too.

– Lesser known cases

– Unreported

– Case of children being sent back e.g. ‘Londres’

and ‘Child Y’

– New cases

• Not just African by any means

• Categories of Child Abuse

– Physical

– Emotional

– Sexual

– Neglect

Causes

• Scapegoating of children

• Economic, political and social pressures in parts of Africa

• The clash of fundamentalist Christianity vs indigenous beliefs

• Financial pretext

• A monster out of the mix

• Multi-agency failures still?

Cross-cultural issues

• Universal rights? But local cross-

cultural applications i.e. moral

universalism vs moral relativism

• Jacob Gobin's defence was actually

the same as a number of other high

profile cases: it's part of my culture

• Much of my work is associated with

the rights of a child

• The vigorous debate … starting point

Scapegoating Theory 2

The key for us here is Victimisation (Girard Violence and the Sacred)

Imitation of the antagonisms

Then scapegoating for those antagonisms

All societies and communities make scapegoats

Has been on the rise because of social, economic and political pressures

Conclusion

The child witch phenomenon is best understood in the context of scapegoating

Danger of victim role

It is global, and historic: then and now

Faith crimes are not a uniquely African ‘problem’.

Global problem requiring a global solution

Contacting Richard

Email

richard@richardhoskins.co.uk

Website

www.richardhoskins.co.uk