UN Reports: Promising Practices

UN: Breaking the spell: responding to witchcraft accusations against children – UNHCR

November 19, 2012
by whrin_admin
in UN Reports - All, UN Reports: Asylum and Refugees, UN Reports: Children, UN Reports: International Law, UN Reports: Promising Practices
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Witchcraft allegations against children have become the focus of increased international attention in recent years. Recent reports by Phillip Alston, Gary Foxcroft, Jill Schnoebelen and Alexandra Cimpric representing respectively, the United Nations, Stepping Stones Nigeria, UNHCR and UNICEF have all highlighted increasing concerns regarding violence and abuse towards children accused of witchcraft. Accusations of witchcraft cause direct violations of children‟s rights. Children are isolated or even rejected from their family and community, end up living on the streets, become victims of different forms of trafficking, suffer from physical and mental health problems and trauma due to the abuses they have experienced (AFRUCA, 2009). Already vulnerable children become even more vulnerable as a result of witchcraft accusations. Cases of children being harmed, abused or killed due to accusations of being a witch or for the purpose of witchcraft have been documented in many countries around the world, though the vast majority of cases investigated to date have been African. This paper focuses on African case studies. Please click here for full paper.

UN: Witchcraft allegations, refugee protection and human rights: a review of the evidence – UNHCR

November 19, 2012
by whrin_admin
in UN Reports - All, UN Reports: Asylum and Refugees, UN Reports: Children, UN Reports: Human Rights, UN Reports: International Law, UN Reports: Promising Practices
No comments yet

Accused witches have been executed by hanging, drowning and burning at the stake throughout history. The persecution of accused witches continues today in communities around the globe. Both men and women are at risk of accusation and over the past decade children are increasingly falling victim to such allegations. Startling accounts of torture, starvation, abandonment and death have been documented. Protection concerns can arise at home and in the context of forced displacement or voluntary migration. Witchcraft accusations, the associated risk of persecution, the cycle of displacement, and what this means for those in the refugee field are the focus of this UNHCR paper. Please click here for full paper.