this presentation draws on actual cases either … presentation draws on actual cases ... –...
TRANSCRIPT
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
Website
www.richardhoskins.co.uk