Ten Preliminary Findings Concerning Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in Papua New Guinea

This discussion paper reports on a number of key emerging research findings from a multi-year collaborative research project into overcoming sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea (PNG). In particular it identifies: (1) the characteristics of those accused and harmed by SARV, demonstrating considerable variation, particularly in gender of those accused, across the country; (2) the multiple types of harm that are caused by SARV, including inter-generational harm; (3) the catalysts of accusation and violence; (4) the widespread confusion about the law and challenges for the criminal justice system presented by SARV; (5) the potentially important roles for law and justice in combatting SARV and the advances made to date; (6) the ways in which the majority of accusations do not lead to violence but are managed through non-violent means; (7) the importance of individuals, government agencies and non-state organisations working together to contain and suppress SARV in a process we term ‘networked containment’; (8) the advances made in anti-SARV activity and the continuation of the agenda despite lack of direct government funding; (9) the importance of multi-level leadership in addressing the issues; and (10) the critical need to adopt a proactive rather than a reactive approach to addressing SARV