Violence Against Older Women: Tackling Witchcraft Accusations

27 June 2012 - Human Rights Council side event

Bridget Sleap, HelpAge International - http://www.helpage.org/

In many parts of the world, older women are still persecuted and accused of witchcraft. This harmful traditional practice is one that often remains hidden and so we were very pleased to see it highlighted in the Special Rapporteur’s report on gender-based killings.

Recent media reports have highlighted the problem in Burkina Faso, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi Nepal and Tanzania though the problem is much more widespread than this.

In most of these countries, belief in witchcraft is common, with people from all sections of society sharing this belief regardless of their level of education, socio-economic group or ethnic origin.

It is usually the most discriminated against and marginalised in society who are accused of witchcraft because they are either least able to defend themselves from attack and are therefore easy targets or because they are considered of little value to society and therefore a burden to it in times of hardship. Although older men and younger women are sometimes targeted, in many cases, those accused are older women.

HelpAge has been working in Tanzania on this issue for many years and so I have chosen Tanzania to illustrate some of the key causes, the impact and potential solutions to tackle the violent impact of witchcraft accusations.

Reliable data on the number of witchcraft accusations and physical attacks on older women in Tanzania is hard to come by. The relevant government departments tend not to give the actual figures of attacks and killings and it is commonly accepted that these crimes are underreported. The figures vary widely but it is estimated as many as a thousand, mostly older women, are targeted and killed annually.^{^[i]}^[1]

These witchcraft accusations are a critical factor in the violation of women’s rights in Sukumaland, and are often generated by wider problems in the community.

For example, limited understanding of the nature, cause and transmission of HIV as well as other illnesses, such as childhood diseases, can result in the belief that a family has been “bewitched”. In cases where husbands have died, widows are often blamed, providing a pretext for relatives of the deceased to deny them the right to inherit family assets.

Allegations are often linked to personal jealousy, and disputes between neighbours or family over land and inheritance. To exacerbate the problem, traditional healers have often been requested by those who have had misfortune, illness, or death in the family, to point out whom in the community has been “bewitching” them. More often than not, the traditional healer points to an older, vulnerable woman in the village.

Dangers of using witchcraft-specific legislation

Introducing or reforming legislation to criminalise accusations as witchcraft is often put forward as a solution.

However, very often witchcraft legislation fails to prevent accusations of witchcraft and subsequent violence against those accused. Nor does it protect those who have been accused, or provide redress for the victims of violent crimes. Witchcraft-related laws are rarely enforced and there are concerns around whether people are getting fair trials or being unlawfully imprisoned under this type of legislation. HelpAge International believes that acts of violence against people accused of witchcraft should be prosecuted under existing criminal laws, such as assault, theft, damage to property or murder. We also believe that community interventions that empower older people and address the conditions that lead to accusations have more likelihood of success than concentrating on legislative change.

However, more does need to be done to strengthen justice systems and make them more accountable to those who seek recourse. Police, magistrates and lawyers need to be trained.

Local-level solutions

HelpAge and local NGO partners have focused on community interventions. Village committee members have been trained in women’s and widow’s rights, and awareness has been raised of the harmful consequences of witchcraft allegations, misconceptions about HIV and other illnesses. Influencing the behaviour of traditional healers and local militia, and working with local government officials, religious leaders and the Tanzanian media have been a priority. Community members have been trained as paralegal advisers to provide advice on land, inheritance and marriage rights.

On a practical level, local communities can be mobilised 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. Making fuel-efficient stoves helps to demonstrate that red eyes, often associated with witchcraft, are actually caused by a lifetime of working over smoky cooking fires.

These community-based programmes have shown positive results. There has been a 99 per cent reduction in the killing of older women in the programme areas, a significant reduction in disputes over land rights, inheritance and matrimonial issues, and over 30 per cent improvements in living conditions of older women.[ii][2]

National level solutions

At a national level killings related to witchcraft must be investigated, prosecuted and punished as murder by the police and judiciary. All laws dealing with inheritance should be reviewed and revised if found discriminatory and widows’ property-grabbing is treated as crime under existing provisions under the criminal code.

International level solutions

Action needs to be taken at the international level too. Violence and abuse against older people rarely commands the same attention as a violation of human rights as violence against younger or other groups. Data on violence against women over the age of 49 is rarely collected and what attention there is to elder abuse is almost exclusively confined to high income countries. More data is needed on different forms of violence and abuse against women over 49 in low and middle income countries.

More attention is also needed in the international human rights system. States Parties to CEDAW should take recommendations 37 & 38 on violence against older women in General Recommendation No. 27 into account in their implementation of CEDAW. The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences could prepare a report on the impact of ageing on violence against women and the Human Rights Council could hold a half-day discussion on the impact of ageing on violence against women.

Finally, international human rights standards protecting older women’s freedom from violence and abuse need to be strengthened, for example within a new convention the rights of older people, the feasibility of which is presently being dicussed at the UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing. Nothing short of this will do if older women are to live secure and dignified lives, free from the vioalnce and abuse that many of them currently experience.