Witch-Hunts: A Thing of the Past?
Witches, Black Magic and Penis Snatchers
We might rarely think of witches, magic and sorcery outside of Halloween, but they are part of a harsh and brutal reality in other parts of the world.
Few people are aware that witch-hunts are not a thing of the past. We tend to think of witches, magic and sorcery only at Halloween or while watching a scary movie, yet they are part of a harsh and brutal reality in other parts of the world. Every year, many alleged witches are persecuted and burnt at the stake. Witch-hunts claim thousands of lives every year, especially in countries such as Cameroon, Kenya, Congo, Sierra Leone and South Africa.
Witch-Hunts: A Rising Trend
In fact, witch hunts are so common in South Africa that hundreds of people die in witch-burning episodes each year. And in the Northern Province, no less that ten villages have been established, which are exclusively populated by "witches." Their lives are at risk in their home communities. This trend to persecute, kill and banish "witches" is, many fear, on the rise.
Why persecute Witches?
As was the case in Europe, witch-hunting in South Africa is closely related to superstitions, poverty and natural disasters. Among poorly educated rural residents in some parts of South Africa, traditional healers and clairvoyants who claim to have supernatural powers have powerful control (we have quite a number of crackpots who claim the same thing here on Canada's west coast, but they don't, at least as far as I can tell, yield much power). Combine this faith in the supernatural with hunger, poverty, and unemployment, and you'll have just the right circumstances that causes people to blame their unfavorable event on black magic.
Where are Witches Persecuted?
Modern day witch-hunts are, unfortunately, not limited to South Africa. Brutal persecution, rape and ritual killings also occur in Cameroon, Kenya, the Congo, Sierra Leone and other countries. Take this case from Sierra Leone, reported by Amnesty International
"My son and I live in a village near Makeni town. My son is 13 years old and he suffers from epilepsy. In September this year (2005) my son and I were accused of witchcraft. My husband brought this charge to the Chief. My husband said that our child was bewitched and it was me who was responsible for bewitching him. Based on this accusation that my husband made, the Chief charged both me and my son with witchcraft. He said that we each had to pay him: one five gallon of palm oil, 50,000 leones (US$15), one goat, and 20 ft pan of straw rice. I pleaded with the Chief for mercy claiming that I had no way of paying those kinds of fines. His answer was to order me to go to the tribal prison."
This woman was better of than her South African counterpart, the 65-year-old Linah Seabi. Accused of killing an elderly woman with a poisonous potion, more than 200 villagers stormed her house in late May 1991, beat her and burned her to death (Nina Shapirro, 1991, as cited by Gendercide Watch)
Male Witches
Women, especially elderly women, have traditionally been the target of witch-hunts. Nowadays however, almost a third of victims of witch-hunts are men, most of whom are traditional healers. Anton La Guardia of the Daily Telegraph (September 9, 1998) described the case of "Credo Mutwa, southern Africa's best-known healer ... [who] said he had been accosted by a mob and stabbed several times. He lay bleeding on the ground and waited helplessly to die as his assailants poured petrol and prepared to set it alight. Mr. Mutwa ... said he was saved by the same superstition which was about to claim his life. 'A young man shouted, "His ghost will haunt you." They vanished, leaving me like a fish on dry land.'" (La Guardia, "South Africa's non-political witch-hunts," The Daily Telegraph, September 9, 1998 as cited by Gendercide Watch)
Penis Snatchers
Gendercide Watch, an organization concerned with gender-based mass persecution and killing, also reports on another trend of predominantly male victimization in West Africa: "Penis-snatching." Gendercide Watch cites Reuters news agency (1996): "eight men in Accra, Ghana, were accused of using witchcraft to snatch penises. Their motivation was allegedly to return the sexual organs in return for cash. Mobs attacked them ... two died and six were seriously injured. The police examined all the alleged victims and found their genitals intact. ... [But] the 'victims' believed that sorcerers only had to touch them to make the genitals shrink or disappear completely." ("'Witches' steal penises in Ghana," Reuters dispatch, January 17, 1996, as cited by gendercide watch).
Gendercide Watch also quotes Trull (1997) who reported on "the killings of alleged 'penis snatchers along the west coast from Cameroon to Nigeria."
See also this great article on penis snatching!
References
Case Study: The European Witch-Hunts, c. 1450-1750 and Witch-Hunts Today. Retrieved on October 6, 2006 from: http://www.gendercide.org/case_witchhunts.html
Amnesty International. Sierra Leone: No one to turn to: Women's lack of access to justice in rural Sierra Leone. Retrieved on October 6, 2006 from: http://www.amnesty.ca/resource_centre/reports/view.php?load=arcview&article=3634&c=Resource%20Centre%20Reports
