WUNRN
HelpAge International - http://www.helpage.org/what-we-do/rights/womens-rights-in-tanzania/womens-rights-in-tanzania/
TANZANIA - WORKING WITH COMMUNITIES
TO END
WITCHCRAFT ACCUSATIONS & ATTACKS
ON WOMEN
Imagine
living in a community your whole life. Then suddenly, you are accused
of witchcraft and told to leave. Or you are sent threatening letters
saying you have bewitched a neighbour's child. Or you are attacked
and slashed with a machete during the night.
Nziku
left her village after she received threatening letters. Her community brought
her back and built her a new house.(c) Jeff
Williams/HelpAge International
The reality is, in many parts of the world,
including
We believe that these accusations are a
critical factor in the violation of women's rights.
Reliable data on the number of witchcraft accusations and
attacks on older women in
Forced accusations
Accusations can be due to crop failure, poor milk
production by cows, school drop outs, polygamy, loss of wealth and alcoholism
in families. Poverty,
disease, ageism, misunderstanding of the causes of HIV and gender inequality
are other underlying causes.
Sometimes, it is a just a case of finding someone to
blame. This is why it
is generally the most vulnerable and marginalised who are targeted.
Some traditional healers are pressurised into "pointing" out a
witch.
Elias, a traditional healer who is part of a joint
HelpAge project said: "People
would come to me and would ask me to point out who was causing harm to them.
They put pressure on us to name someone. It caused a lot of
conflict and quarrelling. Sometimes, older women would be attacked.
"Since
I became involved in this project with (local NGO) AACP and HelpAge, I don't
name a person. I give some relief medicine or if they have an
illness I refer them to the hospital."
Working with communities to change
attitudes
We have worked with our partners in
Using traditional drama, dance and song,
we reach every community member. We have worked closely to influence the
behaviour and practices of groups such as traditional healers and local
militia, as well as with local government officials, religious leaders,
civil society organisations and the Tanzanian media.
In each village, community members have been trained as paralegal advisers to
provide support, and advice on land, inheritance and marriage rights.
Between 2004 and 2008,
paralegal advisers dealt with almost 20,000 cases. Nearly half
of these were disputes over inheritance and land rights, mostly brought by
older women.
Improving conditions for those affected
On a practical level, our partners have mobilised local
communities to build houses and improve sanitation facilities for women who
have been threatened, attacked or who have simply become isolated by the rest
of the community.
They have made fuel-efficient stoves to demonstrate that
red eyes, often associated with witchcraft, are caused by a lifetime or working
over smoky cooking fires.
Nziku started receiving threatening letters after her
husband died. She was scared and moved to another village.
She said: "While I was away the village committee
discussed my problem and came to bring me back. I've been back a year now and
have had no trouble. This
house was built by them and shows that they care for me. I now feel I'm
respected."
The results of community interventions are clear. There has been a 99% reduction in
the killing of older women in the areas where HelpAge and its partners are
running projects.
There has been a significant reduction in disputes over
land rights, inheritance and matrimonial issues, and over 30% improvements in
living conditions of older women. But outside of the project areas, killings of
older women continue to rise.