Peer-reviewed article
Contemporary trends of witchcraft accusations and resulting violence against children: A scoping review and bibliometric analysis protocol
Cara Spence, Edward Salifu Mahama, Kimberly Jarvis, Mary Zettl, Vida Nyagre Yakong et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This is a protocol for a scoping review examining witchcraft accusations and related violence against children aged 0-18 years globally from 1946 to 2024. Witchcraft accusations are linked to various misfortunes and are used by some religious entities to profit from families, resulting in serious harms including marginalization, violence, trafficking, and death. The review will systematically analyse academic and grey literature to identify gaps and inform resource development across health, education, social work, and community sectors.
Key points
- Witchcraft-related violence against children is described as an understudied phenomenon particularly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa
- Accusations are linked to unexplained events such as illness, death, financial misfortune, disability, and birth abnormalities
- Consequences for accused children include marginalization, communal expulsion, disfigurement, disability, death, human trafficking, and ceremonial sacrifice
- Religious entities sometimes weaponize witchcraft accusations against families for profit
- The review will cover literature from 1946 to 2024 across academic, grey literature and web-based databases using PRISMA-ScR guidelines
Limitations
This is a protocol document rather than completed research, so it describes planned methods but presents no empirical findings. The document does not provide data on prevalence, outcomes, or effectiveness of any interventions to address witchcraft-related violence.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This review seeks to understand the global trends of contemporary witchcraft accusations and related harms against children and adolescents (0-18 years of age). INTRODUCTION: Witchcraft-related violence against children and adolescents (children) reflects an alarming and understudied phenomenon of socio-culturally legitimated harm around the globe, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. 'Witchcraft' explains the unexplainable, such as strokes of luck and/or misfortune. Witchcraft accusations are linked to illness, sudden death, financial misfortune, miscarriages, financial windfall, disability, birth abnormalities, or rare conditions. Religious entities also levy witchcraft accusations, referring to black magic, evil, works or malicious spirits, to profit off families while harming the accused. These accusations result in marginalization, alienation, slandered reputation, communal expulsion, and violence, causing disfiguration, disability, and death. Children are especially vulnerable to witchcraft-related violence, including human trafficking, and ceremonial and cultural sacrifice. INCLUSION CRITERIA: This scoping review will examine witchcraft accusations and related harms against children and adolescents (0-18 years of age) globally from 1946 to 2024. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: This scoping review excludes articles that do not report specifics of the accusation, situation, result, age of the accused, or country of origin. METHODS: This scoping review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute's Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) Statement. Articles published from January 1, 1946 to December 31, 2024 will be collected across academic, grey literature and web-based databases. A systematic search strategy will be applied in each database, and all search results recorded. A bibliometric analysis will also be undertaken to systematically and rigorously review the extant literature. Findings of this review will identify areas of collaboration and gaps for further exploration. The literature analysis can raise awareness and inform resource development across health care, education, social work, government, and community sectors to better support victims of witchcraft-related harms.