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TWO CHARITIES are
donating £450,000 to help African children in
the UK who are accused of witchcraft and abused.
The BBC has learned the City Parochial
Foundation and the Trust for London are giving
the money to help improve child protection and a
family support centre.
The practice of accusing children of being
possessed and then carrying out often violent
exorcisms has followed some migrant communities
to the UK.
Last year, a
governmentfunded report identified 38 such cases
of abuse. Major faiths In Democratic Republic of
Congo and surrounding countries, thousands of
unregulated churches have been set up mixing
traditional beliefs and extreme revivalist
Christianity.
In recent years the practice of accusing
children of being possessed and then carrying
out often violent exorcisms has become
commonplace.
In Kinshasa, the capital of DRC, thousands of
children live on the streets after being thrown
out of their homes following claims of "Kindoki"
or "Ndoki", which means witchcraft. G
o v e r n m e n t - f u n d e d research in the
UK has shown that the practice has also followed
some migrant communities.
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Possession claims In June 2005 after a trial at
the Old Bailey three people were sent to prison
for abusing a child they claimed was possessed
by evil spirits.
The child, who cannot be named, had been
stabbed, beaten and had chilli peppers rubbed in
her eyes. Five years earlier eightyear- old
Victoria Climbie was tortured to death - her
killers attacked her in part because they
believed her to be possessed. When she died she
had 128 individual injuries.
Last year, the report funded by the Department
for Education and Skills, said it was not
possible to give an accurate picture of the
extent of the problem.
But it concluded belief in spirit possession was common to all the major faiths. Cases were identified in different racial and religious groups.
Project funding The BBC has learned that two London-based charitable trusts are now so concerned about the problem they are to give £450,000 to four groups working to combat the problem.
The City Parochial Foundation and the Trust for London are giving the money to AFRUCA (Africans Unite against Child Abuse), the UK Congolese Safeguarding Action Group, The Churches Child Protection Advisory Service and The Victoria Climbie Foundation.
The move came after African community groups approached the charities requesting help to fund grass roots projects.
The money should help pay for more education, training and research. It will fund a support centre for families from the DRC and neighbouring countries.
"The initiative... will enable them to contribute to the safety, quality of life and well being of children and to promote children's rights," according to Bharat Mehta who is chief executive of City Parochial Foundation and the Trust for London.
The charities say they are helping these groups as part of their Safeguarding Children's Rights initiative.
But they point out that though the money is to help African children, child abuse linked to a belief in possession occurs in a range of different faith groups based in the UK.
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