MsDevin92
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- Posted: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:05:09 +0000
WARNING: This thread concerns a disturbing subject matter and the links mentioned below may not be ideal for people with weaker constitutions.
DISCLAIMER: Please, we do not need inflammatory comments based on the religion or race of the parties involved, or any of the posters in this thread.
Most of us who studied American history in school remember reading about the Salem witch trials. These were a series of events revolving around numerous people in the colonies being accused of witchcraft. Only a few were brought to (usually rigged) legal hearings, while others were never tried yet still victimized, and several of the accused were subjected to brutal torture and 'testing' methods to make them confess. To America, witch-hunts (at least literal ones) are a thing of the past, but it's unfortunately becoming a recurring trend in several parts of the world. There are reports of witch-hunts from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, but the focus of this topic is the war on witchcraft in Africa, where it's arguably turned the most violent.
Believed to be harbingers of disaster in Africa, apparently witches spread diseases like HIV, cause the death of family members and friends, make crops fail, sicken animals, start wildfires, and much more. The process of the hunt is simple: when something goes wrong in a village, the people either call in a witch-doctor/sniffer (someone who is believed to sense the presence of witches) or take matters into their own hands and just place the blame on a fellow villager. The ‘witch’ is either pressured to confess through unscrupulous means by the witch-doctors and put through a dangerous exorcism, or more often than not outright murdered by the rest of the populace. If they manage to escape the torture, they are then thrown out of their home, and never accepted back.
While at first the ‘witches’ were mostly old, female Africans, the blame has since moved to the sick, deformed, unpopular, and even the young. Suspicious that children are becoming possessed by satanic spirits, people have begun to punish their own families. When someone is branded a witch, they have no protection from the ensuing mob violence save for the few individuals who still believe them to be good people; local doctors won’t accept ‘sorcerers’ as patients, and hospitals are few and far between in the impoverished area where the hunts have gotten the most common. Those that are ostracized almost inevitably fall victim to starvation or human trafficking rings. Makeshift shelters have popped up across several countries to provide food and shelter to the refugees, but they are more often than not ill-equipped to deal with the growing number of people under their care.
There’s a lot of conspiratorial finger pointing at who is to blame for the witch-hunts: the churches, where intolerance of witchcraft is preached; the witch-doctors, who are more often than not paid highly for their services and have been accused of kidnapping and drugging those they accuse; the media, for adding fuel to the fire beneath the stake from biased propaganda; the government, for not doing enough to stop it; and the schools, or lack thereof, for not better educating the people. Whatever supposed reasoning is behind the situation, the sad reality of it is that mass panic has gripped a vulnerable continent already ravaged by violence and impoverishment, and as a result droves of innocent people are suffering.
Here are just a few recounts of what the supposed ‘witches’ have been put through:
- A woman blamed for the death of her daughter (who was also accused of being a witch) was set upon by a mob and lost her right hand.
- A grandmother was dragged from her home and hacked to bloody pieces in the street.
- A child had a three-inch nail driven into her head, permanently scarring her brain.
- A family poured boiling water on their toddler, burning his skin.
- A father forced his daughter to sit on a pile of kindling and set fire to it.
- A man attempted to hack the feet of a girl off at her ankles.
- In an exorcism as a baby, a child was blinded in one eye.
With all of the violence in current events, there doesn’t seem to be much attention devoted to the witch-hunts, but luckily we can make a difference by becoming aware of the situation and doing our part to help. Several charities are taking donations to benefit shelters where the survivors are housed.
OTHER LINKS:
- A documentary on the persecution of children as witches in Africa.
- A report on witch-hunt violence in Tanzania.
- CNN visits the site where 100 people stabbed an elderly woman to death.
- 11 people are burned alive for witchcraft.
- A short article including a timeline of witch-hunt violence in Africa.
- A news column on the deaths of 15 people from a mob.
- A witch-doctor who killed 110 ‘witch children’ is arrested.
- An interview at a shelter for children accused of witchcraft.
- Stepping Stones Nigeria, a charity supporting the shelters.
Feel free to discuss the situation and post links to stories or any helpful organizations that you have come across. I thank you for your time in at least reading this post, and hope that I have not offended any posters.
DISCLAIMER: Please, we do not need inflammatory comments based on the religion or race of the parties involved, or any of the posters in this thread.
Most of us who studied American history in school remember reading about the Salem witch trials. These were a series of events revolving around numerous people in the colonies being accused of witchcraft. Only a few were brought to (usually rigged) legal hearings, while others were never tried yet still victimized, and several of the accused were subjected to brutal torture and 'testing' methods to make them confess. To America, witch-hunts (at least literal ones) are a thing of the past, but it's unfortunately becoming a recurring trend in several parts of the world. There are reports of witch-hunts from Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, but the focus of this topic is the war on witchcraft in Africa, where it's arguably turned the most violent.
Believed to be harbingers of disaster in Africa, apparently witches spread diseases like HIV, cause the death of family members and friends, make crops fail, sicken animals, start wildfires, and much more. The process of the hunt is simple: when something goes wrong in a village, the people either call in a witch-doctor/sniffer (someone who is believed to sense the presence of witches) or take matters into their own hands and just place the blame on a fellow villager. The ‘witch’ is either pressured to confess through unscrupulous means by the witch-doctors and put through a dangerous exorcism, or more often than not outright murdered by the rest of the populace. If they manage to escape the torture, they are then thrown out of their home, and never accepted back.
While at first the ‘witches’ were mostly old, female Africans, the blame has since moved to the sick, deformed, unpopular, and even the young. Suspicious that children are becoming possessed by satanic spirits, people have begun to punish their own families. When someone is branded a witch, they have no protection from the ensuing mob violence save for the few individuals who still believe them to be good people; local doctors won’t accept ‘sorcerers’ as patients, and hospitals are few and far between in the impoverished area where the hunts have gotten the most common. Those that are ostracized almost inevitably fall victim to starvation or human trafficking rings. Makeshift shelters have popped up across several countries to provide food and shelter to the refugees, but they are more often than not ill-equipped to deal with the growing number of people under their care.
There’s a lot of conspiratorial finger pointing at who is to blame for the witch-hunts: the churches, where intolerance of witchcraft is preached; the witch-doctors, who are more often than not paid highly for their services and have been accused of kidnapping and drugging those they accuse; the media, for adding fuel to the fire beneath the stake from biased propaganda; the government, for not doing enough to stop it; and the schools, or lack thereof, for not better educating the people. Whatever supposed reasoning is behind the situation, the sad reality of it is that mass panic has gripped a vulnerable continent already ravaged by violence and impoverishment, and as a result droves of innocent people are suffering.
Here are just a few recounts of what the supposed ‘witches’ have been put through:
- A woman blamed for the death of her daughter (who was also accused of being a witch) was set upon by a mob and lost her right hand.
- A grandmother was dragged from her home and hacked to bloody pieces in the street.
- A child had a three-inch nail driven into her head, permanently scarring her brain.
- A family poured boiling water on their toddler, burning his skin.
- A father forced his daughter to sit on a pile of kindling and set fire to it.
- A man attempted to hack the feet of a girl off at her ankles.
- In an exorcism as a baby, a child was blinded in one eye.
With all of the violence in current events, there doesn’t seem to be much attention devoted to the witch-hunts, but luckily we can make a difference by becoming aware of the situation and doing our part to help. Several charities are taking donations to benefit shelters where the survivors are housed.
OTHER LINKS:
- A documentary on the persecution of children as witches in Africa.
- A report on witch-hunt violence in Tanzania.
- CNN visits the site where 100 people stabbed an elderly woman to death.
- 11 people are burned alive for witchcraft.
- A short article including a timeline of witch-hunt violence in Africa.
- A news column on the deaths of 15 people from a mob.
- A witch-doctor who killed 110 ‘witch children’ is arrested.
- An interview at a shelter for children accused of witchcraft.
- Stepping Stones Nigeria, a charity supporting the shelters.
Feel free to discuss the situation and post links to stories or any helpful organizations that you have come across. I thank you for your time in at least reading this post, and hope that I have not offended any posters.
