IB 2021/07 Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in PNG Part 7: The Harm of SARV

Cover of In Brief 2021/07 Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in PNG Part 7: The Harm of SARV

Author/s (editor/s):

Miranda Forsyth, Ibolya Losoncz, Philip Gibbs, Fiona Hukula, William Kipongi

Publication year:

2021

Publication type:

In Brief

This is the seventh In Brief in a series presenting findings from a multi-year study of sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This In Brief reports on the various dimensions of harm that SARV creates for individuals, their families, their community and the nation. The research covers the four provinces of Enga, Bougainville, National Capital District (NCD) and Jiwaka, where quantitative data was collected over a four-and-a-half-year period (January 2016–June 2020). During this time, 298 incidents of violent accusations were recorded involving 546 victims. Of these victims, 65 were killed, 86 suffered permanent injury and 141 survived other serious harm, such as burning, cutting, tying or being forced into water. In total, the authors recorded 318 people having either died or survived serious harm as a result of SARV.

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