Witchcraft

=== Africa ===
{{main|Witchcraft in Africa}}
[[File:A Niam-Niam medicine man or shaman, equatorial Africa. Halft Wellcome V0015964.jpg|upright|thumb|right|An [[Azande]] witch doctor, who is believed to cure bewitchment]]

African witchcraft encompasses various beliefs and practices. These beliefs often play a significant role in shaping social dynamics and can influence how communities address challenges and seek spiritual assistance. Much of what witchcraft represents in Africa has been susceptible to misunderstandings and confusion, thanks in no small part to a tendency among western scholars since the time of the now largely discredited [[Margaret Murray]] to approach the subject through a comparative lens vis-a-vis European witchcraft.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Okeja |first=Uchenna |title='An African Context of the Belief in Witchcraft and Magic,' in Rational Magic |date=2011 |publisher=Fisher Imprints |isbn=978-1848880610}}{{page?|date=January 2023}}</ref>

While some colonialists tried to eradicate witch hunting by introducing legislation to prohibit accusations of witchcraft, some of the countries where this was the case have formally recognized the existence of witchcraft via the law. This has produced an environment that encourages persecution of suspected witches.<ref name="Igwe">{{Cite magazine |last=Igwe |first=Leo |author-link=Leo Igwe |date=September–October 2020 |title=Accused Witches Burned, Killed in Nigeria |magazine=[[Skeptical Inquirer]] |location=Amherst, New York |publisher=[[Center for Inquiry]]}}</ref>

In [[Cameroon]] among the [[Maka people]], witchcraft is known as "djambe" and encompasses occult, transformative, killing, and healing aspects.<ref>{{cite book |last=Geschiere |first=Peter |title=The Modernity of Witchcraft: Politics and the Occult in Postcolonial Africa |year=1997 |publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=0813917034 |translator=Peter Geschiere and Janet Roitman |page=13}}</ref> In the [[Central African Republic]], hundreds of people are convicted of witchcraft annually, with reports of violent acts against accused women.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The dangers of witchcraft |url=http://blogs.reuters.com/africanews/2010/02/04/the-dangers-of-witchcraft/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312100813/http://blogs.reuters.com/africanews/2010/02/04/the-dangers-of-witchcraft/ |archive-date=2010-03-12 |access-date=2010-03-26}}</ref> The [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] witnessed a disturbing trend of child witchcraft accusations in [[Kinshasa]], leading to abuse and exorcisms supervised by self-styled pastors.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 2009 |title=Kolwezi: Accused of witchcraft by parents and churches, children in the Democratic Republic of Congo are being rescued by Christian activists |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/september/27.62.html |website=Christianity Today |access-date=2011-10-14 |archive-date=2011-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114201647/http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/september/27.62.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Ghana]] grapples with accusations against women, leading to the existence of [[witch camp]]s where accused individuals can seek refuge, though the government plans to close them.<ref name="Camps">{{Cite news |last=Whitaker |first=Kati |date=September 2012 |title=Ghana witch camps: Widows' lives in exile |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19437130 |access-date=September 1, 2012 |archive-date=October 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020122329/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19437130 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In [[Kenya]], there have been reports of mobs burning people accused of witchcraft, reflecting the deep-seated beliefs in the supernatural.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kanina |first1=Wangui |date=2008-05-21 |title=Mob burns to death 11 Kenyan "witches" |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL21301127 |access-date=2016-09-15 |archive-date=2017-06-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620210627/http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL21301127 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Malawi]] faces a similar issue of child witchcraft accusations, with traditional healers and some Christian counterparts involved in exorcisms, causing abandonment and abuse of children.<ref>Byrne, Carrie 2011. Hunting the vulnerable: Witchcraft and the law in Malawi; Consultancy Africa Intelligence (16 June):</ref> In [[Nigeria]], [[Pentecostal]] pastors have intertwined Christianity with witchcraft beliefs for profit, leading to the torture and killing of accused children.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stepping Stones Nigeria 2007. Supporting Victims of Witchcraft Abuse and Street Children in Nigeria |url=http://www.humantrafficking.org/publications/593 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017185346/http://humantrafficking.org/publications/593 |archive-date=2012-10-17 |website=humantrafficking.org}}</ref> [[Sierra Leone]]'s [[Mende people]] see witchcraft convictions as beneficial, as the accused receive support and care from the community.<ref>West, Harry G. ''Ethnographic Sorcery'' (p. 24); 2007. The University of Chicago Press. {{ISBN|978-0226893983}} (pbk.).</ref>

Lastly, in [[Zulu people|Zulu]] culture, healers known as {{Lang|zu|[[sangoma]]}}s protect people from witchcraft and evil spirits through divination and ancestral connections.<ref name=Cumes>{{cite book |last= Cumes |first= David |year= 2004|title= Africa in my bones  |publisher= New Africa Books|location= Claremont|isbn=978-0-86486-556-4|page=14}}</ref> However, concerns arise regarding the training and authenticity of some sangomas.

In parts of Africa, beliefs about illness being caused by witchcraft continue to fuel suspicion of modern medicine, with serious [[healthcare]] consequences. [[HIV/AIDS]]<ref name="HIVwitchcraft">{{Cite news |last1=Kielburger |first1=Craig |last2=Kielburger |first2=Marc |date=18 February 2008 |title=HIV in Africa: Distinguishing disease from witchcraft |work=[[Toronto Star]] |publisher=Toronto Star Newspapers Ltd. |location=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/columnists/2008/02/18/hiv_in_africa_distinguishing_disease_from_witchcraft.html |access-date=18 September 2017 |archive-date=19 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019221301/https://www.thestar.com/opinion/columnists/2008/02/18/hiv_in_africa_distinguishing_disease_from_witchcraft.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Ebola]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 August 2014 |title=Ebola outbreak: 'Witchcraft' hampering treatment, says doctor |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28625305 |website=[[BBC News]] |publisher=BBC |location=London|quote=citing a doctor from [[Médecins Sans Frontières]]: 'A widespread belief in witchcraft is hampering efforts to halt the Ebola virus from spreading' |access-date=22 June 2018 |archive-date=18 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718192649/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/health-28625305 |url-status=live }}</ref> are two examples of often-lethal [[infectious disease]] [[epidemic]]s whose medical care and [[Isolation (health care)|containment]] has been severely hampered by regional beliefs in witchcraft. Other severe medical conditions whose treatment is hampered in this way include [[tuberculosis]], [[leprosy]], [[epilepsy]] and the common severe [[bacterial]] [[Buruli ulcer]].<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Social stigma as an epidemiological determinant for leprosy elimination in Cameroon |url=http://www.publichealthinafrica.org/index.php/jphia/article/view/jphia.2011.e10/html_19 |journal=Journal of Public Health in Africa |access-date=2014-08-27 |archive-date=2017-07-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731190043/http://www.publichealthinafrica.org/index.php/jphia/article/view/jphia.2011.e10/html_19 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Akosua |first=Adu |date=3 September 2014 |title=Ebola: Human Rights Group Warns Disease Is Not Caused By Witchcraft |work=The Ghana-Italy News |url=http://www.theghana-italynews.com/index.php/component/k2/item/955-ebola-human-rights-group-warns-disease-is-not-caused-by-witchcraft |url-status=dead |access-date=31 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903134240/http://www.theghana-italynews.com/index.php/component/k2/item/955-ebola-human-rights-group-warns-disease-is-not-caused-by-witchcraft |archive-date=3 September 2014}}</ref>
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