Benin: Witchcraft and Child Abuse Go Hand in Hand in Benin

To survive, children living in extreme poverty steal food. Oftentimes in Benin, as a result of their actions they are accused of witchcraft and are brutally beaten to death. Those children who do survive this emerging social phenomenon in Benin and neighboring countries end up physically and emotionally scarred.

Any number of reasons, running the gamut from misdemeanors to birth defects, can cause a child in Benin to be accused of sorcery. These children, who are almost always destitute, are stigmatized for life, chased from their communities and abandoned by their families.

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