Towards a Unified Response to Sorcery Accusation Related Violence
These slides share what the research found.
The people who rescue the accused, and the people who study SARV, saw the same problem. Everyone was working alone.
Ten years ago, the national plan for SARV asked for research and good information. That information was never collected. In 2024, the research team held seven workshops across the Highlands, one in each province. People who respond to SARV came together in one room.
The research found that SARV happens to the people who have the least protection. The violence is often worst in places where the belief is new. In Enga, the killing started only around 2010.
The people most often accused are:
People believe that someone can use sorcery to harm or kill. The research found that this belief is part of why SARV happens, but the belief alone does not start the violence.
The violence starts when the belief meets hard conditions: no police, no clinic, no road, and no work. People are angry about land and money, with nowhere to take that anger.
This is why the report says the work must address the belief and the conditions at the same time.
Change is possible. From the report grew the work that is happening now:
We must stop the violence, and prevent it. For our mothers, our sisters, and our children, we must end SARV.
No One Should Stand Alone: Towards a Unified Response to Sorcery Accusation Related Violence. Published by UNFPA Papua New Guinea with Divine Word University, the National Research Institute, and the Australian National University, on behalf of the Department of Justice & Attorney General and the Department of Community Development & Religion. 2025.