Witchcraft and Children - By Country

By Country

One example of a child-witch narrative in Germany is of a seven-year-old girl named Brigitta Horner. In 1639, Brigitta claimed to be a witch and that she had participated in witch's Sabbats where the Devil was present. Brigitta claimed to have been baptized in the name of the Devil instead of God. The pastor who baptized Brigitta was married to her grandmother who then taught her the arts of witchcraft.

In the United Kingdom, research by Dr Leo Ruickbie showed that the problem of child witchcraft accusations is spreading from Africa to countries with African immigrant populations. In some cases this has led to ritualized abuse and even murder. This was evident in the high-profile case of Kristy Bamu in 2010.

In Nigeria, some African Pentecostal pastors have incorporated African witchcraft beliefs into their brand of Christianity resulting in a campaign of violence against young Nigerians. Children and babies branded as evil are being abused, abandoned and even murdered. The preachers make money out of the fear providing costly exorcism services of their parents and their communities.

In Angola, many orphaned children are accused of witchcraft and demonic possession by relatives in order to justify not providing for them. Various methods are employed: starvation, beating, unknown substances rubbed into their eyes or being chained or tied up.

In Congo, it is estimated that there are 25,000 homeless children living on the streets of the capital city. Of these, 60% were expelled from their homes because of allegations of witchcraft. Accusations of witchcraft is the only justifiable reason for the refusal to house a family member, no matter how distant the relation.

In Gambia, about 1,000 people accused of being witches were locked in detention centers in March 2009. They were forced to drink a dangerous hallucinogenic potion, according to Amnesty International.

In the Nigerian states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River about 15,000 children were branded as witches and most of them end up abandoned and abused on the streets. A documentary aired on Channel 4 and BBC, Saving Africa's Witch Children, shows the work of Gary Foxcroft and Stepping Stones Nigeria in addressing these abuses.

In Sierra Leone, sick infants tend to have better survival-rates due to witchhunts : "the effect of the witch cleansing probably lasts for ... years in the sense that mothers are predisposed to tend their babies with more hopefulness and real concern. ... Therefore ... many babies who, before the arrival of the witchfinder, might have been saved if the mothers had had the heart and will to stop at nothing to tend their babies, WILL now survive precisely because they will receive the best attention which circumstances allow as the mothers now believe that the remaining children arre free of witchcraft. So there is a REAL reduction in the infant mortality rate in the years immediately following the witchcleansing movement".