Why Are Young People Being Charged With Witchcraft?

An increasing number of children are being accused of witchcraft in parts of Africa, with orphans, street children, albinos, and the disabled at risk. A UNICEF report warns that children accused of being witches have been burned, beaten, and even killed as punishment. Religion and poverty are two factors that play a role in child witchcraft being perpetuated in Nigeria. One researcher has argued that the religious discourse of the new Christian Church contributes to the spread of witchcraft accusations.

Child victims of witchcraft accusations are more vulnerable than adult victims as they cannot defend themselves as they face physical and psychological abuse. Hundreds of thousands of children across the continent are accused of witchcraft each year, according to a 2022 report by the African Child Policy Forum. Children accused of witchcraft often suffer public humiliation, forced confessions, and torture. They are also forced to ingest traditional “cleansing” medicines and get expelled from their homes.

Violence against children accused of witchcraft is a form of child abuse that should be addressed. An anthropological study of contemporary practices in Africa shows that children accused of witchcraft often suffer public humiliation, forced confessions, and torture. The reasons for children being accused of witchcraft are complex and include a philosophical response to the problem of suffering, poverty, and socio-economic issues. Hundreds of thousands of children across Africa face witchcraft accusations and subsequently suffer grievous human rights violations.

Why were the girls accused in the Salem witch trials?

The Salem witch trials were a period of intense scrutiny and accusations against women, often based on factors such as gender, religion, economic status, age, and societal influence. Teenage girls were the most common target, but 4-year-old Dorothy Good was also accused of witchcraft. Not all witchcraft accusations occurred during trials, as Anne Hutchinson, who started Bible study groups with women in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was accused of engaging in the devil’s work for helping deliver a stillborn child. Other girls, like Tituba, an enslaved woman, were accused without clear reasons, with race being considered a factor in her accusations.

What caused someone to be accused of witchcraft?

Witchcraft in early modern England was a complex phenomenon that caused fear and became a normal part of life. Newcomers to a community might be accused of witchcraft due to suspicion from their neighbors, or it could be a way to make money. The harvest failed, leading to increased suspicion. Witchcraft trials became a platform for grievances and disputes to be discussed, and people could testify for or against their neighbors.

Understanding the history of witchcraft provides insights into the realities of everyday life for ordinary people in early modern England, rather than the supernatural. Dr. Jessica Nelson, Head of Collections at The National Archives, delivered a 30-minute talk on the topic.

Who was the youngest person accused of witchcraft?

Dorothy Good, the youngest person to be arrested and jailed in 1692, was accused of practicing witchcraft at the age of four. She was confined to a dungeon-like prison for nearly eight months, initially with her mother and infant sister. However, her comforts were later removed when her sister perished in the prison conditions and her mother was convicted of practicing witchcraft and taken away for execution. Dorothy’s father described her as “chargeable having little or no reason to govern herself”.

Historical accounts of the Salem witch trials often reference Dorothy’s status as the youngest person to be imprisoned and her story with reference to the reparation payment awarded to her father in 1712. Recent research by the Director of Education has revealed more information about Dorothy’s adult life, including her straying and rambling life, and her birth of two children without a husband to claim them as his own.

Why did the girls start accusing people of witchcraft?

The reasons behind the witchcraft accusations among young girls in Puritan society are unclear, but Elizabeth Hubbard was one of the original girls to begin the accusations. She continued to be a leading accuser throughout the summer and fall of 1692. Elizabeth, like most of the other afflicted girls, was detached from her parents and family of birth and lived with her great-aunt Rachel Hubbard Griggs and her husband, town physician Dr. William Griggs.

In 1692, Elizabeth was around 17 years old, making her one of the oldest of the original set of afflicted girls. Along with Elizabeth Parris, Abby Williams, and Anne Putnam, Elizabeth started the accusations with claims of being tortured by specters of certain community members. Carol Karlsen’s research suggests that many of the accusing girls may have behaved as they did due to the uncertainty of their future as orphans. Most of the girls had no monetary or emotional support from direct family members, and the frontier wars had left their father’s estates considerably diminished.

Elizabeth Hubbard, like most of the other accusing girls, was a servant with very dismal prospects for the future. Karlsen suggests that the afflicted used their dramatic possession performances to focus the communities’ concern on their difficulties, which allowed them to gain the respect and attention of the community.

While the exact reasons behind the witchcraft accusations remain unknown, the documents we can read provide insights into the kind of girl Elizabeth Hubbard was.

Who was most likely to be accused of witchcraft?

The Salem witch trials were a period of intense scrutiny and accusations against women, often based on factors such as gender, religion, economic status, age, and societal influence. Teenage girls were the most common target, but 4-year-old Dorothy Good was also accused of witchcraft. Not all witchcraft accusations occurred during trials, as Anne Hutchinson, who started Bible study groups with women in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was accused of engaging in the devil’s work for helping deliver a stillborn child. Other girls, like Tituba, an enslaved woman, were accused without clear reasons, with race being considered a factor in her accusations.

Who was the first child accused of witchcraft?

In the seventeenth century, Norway experienced child witch accusations, similar to Europe’s witch craze. A group of six girls in the Northern district of Finnmark were accused of witchcraft, with Ingeborg Iversdatter being the first child to be accused. Many of these children had family connections to others accused of witchcraft.

In the United Kingdom, research by Dr. Leo Ruickbie showed that child witchcraft accusations spread from Africa to countries with African immigrant populations, leading to ritualized abuse and even murder. In 2000, Victoria Climbie was sent to live with her great-aunt Marie-Thérèse Kouao for better education. Doctors and social workers suspected Kouao of physically abusing and neglecting Victoria, but she was discharged in her great-aunt’s care. Kouao claimed Victoria was suffering from demonic possession and authorized a deliverance ritual.

Victoria’s condition worsened from the abuse, neglect, and torture, leading to her death on February 25, 2000, from heart, lung, and kidney failure. Kouao and her boyfriend were both convicted of murder, both receiving a life sentence.

How many people died from being accused of witchcraft?

The Salem witchcraft crisis, originating from European religious upheaval, warfare, political tensions, and economic dislocation from 1400 to 1775, saw around 100, 000 people tried for witchcraft and 50, 000 executed. The belief was that witches posed a threat to Christian society by exploiting Satan’s power to spread sickness, misery, and death. English colonial settlers arrived in 1626 at Naumkeag, a Native American fishing site, to establish a Massachusetts Bay Colony outpost.

Most Puritans sought to “purify” the Church of England from Roman Catholic practices. Salem, covering 70 square miles, included Salem Village, now Danvers, and was named after Jerusalem, meaning “city of peace”.

What are the rules of witchcraft?

Witches believe in the universal law of not doing evil and harm, and see the universe as majickal and able to provide for us. They practice science, art, and religion, with roots in early European cultures. Witches act in balance with these three aspects and use their majick in harmony with the universe and nature. They do not worship Satan or the Devil, as they believe that hatred and harm stem from our own choices and actions against the balance of the universe. Witches practice their religion in harmony with the universe and nature.

What were the primary reasons for the witchcraft trials in Salem?

The Salem witch trials and executions were a result of a combination of church politics, family feuds, and hysterical children, all unfolding in a vacuum of political authority. In the late 17th century, there were two Salems: Salem Town, a bustling commerce-oriented port community on Massachusetts Bay, and Salem Village, a smaller, poorer farming community of around 500 persons. The village had a noticeable social divide, exacerbated by a rivalry between the well-heeled Porters and the Putnams, who sought greater autonomy for the village.

Squabbles over property were commonplace, and litigiousness was rampant. In 1689, Samuel Parris, a merchant from Boston by way of Barbados, became the pastor of the village’s Congregational church. Parris brought his wife, their three children, a niece, and two slaves from Barbados, John Indian and Tituba. The relationship between the slaves and their ethnic origins is uncertain, with some scholars believing they were of African heritage, while others think they may have been of Caribbean Native American heritage.

Why did they believe the children in the Salem witch trials?

The capacity of the devil to influence individuals without prior awareness or experience enabled young, uneducated children to become influential figures within witchcraft practices, aligning with the beliefs of the Puritans.

Why did witchcraft accusations increase?

The trials of 1645 led by Matthew Hopkins in East Anglia had a higher conviction rate than other English witch trials. During the summer of 1645, Hopkins tried approximately 200 witches, accounting for one-quarter of the entire English total of executions. These trials resembled continental witch trials due to their time of political instability and the use of torture by a professional witch hunter. England was experiencing a Civil War, leading to an increase in belief that the Devil was at work, which led to an increase in witchcraft accusations.

The borough courts hired Matthew Hopkins to try witches instead of relying on assize courts, making it difficult to dismiss his conclusions. Hopkins used sleep deprivation as a form of torture to gain confessions about associations with the Devil, leading to more than half of the witches confessing to having met the Devil and many confessing to having sexual intercourse with him. This method, which worked especially well during a time of political conflict, led to an increase in witch convictions.

However, the Matthew Hopkins trials may have helped bring an end to the English witch trials by bringing attention to the flawed evidence and inhumane methods used in witch trials. John Gaule criticized Hopkins for using inhumane methods, such as sleep deprivation, which often led to delusions. The emphasis on reliable evidence in witch trials and the relatively lenient common law court system in England influenced the low conviction rate of witches. Comparing the Matthew Hopkins trials with typical English trials reveals how a country’s political climate, court systems, and beliefs about witches influenced the outcome of their witch trials.