UK health and social workers and those in the criminal justice system are increasingly having to understand belief in spiritual possession among ethnic minorities, with new research highlighting a particular issue with some sections of the British Asian community blaming mental health problems on the supernatural. See full report here
The Department for Education released this national action plan to help raise awareness of the issue of child abuse linked to faith or belief and to encourage practical steps to be taken to prevent such abuse. It has been developed through partnership on the National Working Group between central government and local statutory partners, faith leaders, voluntary sector organisations and the Metropolitan Police. See full details here
When Sarah Ewang, 41, heard about the homicide and dismemberment of 18 young women in Yaound, the capital of Cameroon, she cried and prayed to God to give strength to the victims families. Read more here.
Camabatela – A 21-year old citizen was stubbed to death by two people accused of witchcraft, at Camabatela village, Ambaca Municipality, Northern Kwanza-Norte Province, Angop has learnt. Read more here.
The death sentence of a man, who had killed his father as sacrifice to a deity in 2008, has been reduced to life imprisonment by the Delhi High Court. Read more here
Philip Gibbs, a Catholic priest of Lower Hutt, was celebrating Sunday’s second mass last week at Mount Hagen Holy Trinity Cathedral in Papua New Guinea. Around 1000 people were in the congregation. Days earlier, many of them had burnt a “witch” to death. More here
Sermons, SMS and programs socialising children to reject violence: these are some of the responses that emerged from Papua New Guinea after our story about the ongoing belief in sorcery — and its brutal consequences. More here
A local court today sentenced a couple to life imprisonment for sacrificing a five-year old girl in January 2009 to get rid of their financial woes. Read full story here
Haiti, 2010 — A U.N. tank had just struck our vehicle and we were escorted back to the base. The soldiers were Chilean, which meant my Spanish wasn’t so useless. They offered us food and water as they repaired the damage to our seasoned S.U.V. When we got back on the road it was easy to see why the UN drove tanks in this region. The roads were decimated by years of forgotten promises of foreign aid and of neglect from corrupt officials. We were driving with one mission in mind, to follow the footsteps of Wade Davis, the Canadian ethnobotanist and author of The Serpent in the Rainbow. Full story here
