How Suspicion Turns Into Sorcery Violence

Introduction

Sorcery accusation-related violence is one of the most serious forms of collective violence in contemporary Papua New Guinea. It is not simply the result of belief in supernatural harm. Rather, it emerges when unexplained illness, sudden death or misfortune combines with grief, rumour, longstanding social tensions and weak protection by state institutions. A death that lacks an obvious medical explanation may trigger demands for someone to blame. Once a named individual is accused, violence can escalate rapidly through family networks, village meetings or crowds convinced they are defending their community.

Researchers, churches, human rights organisations and the Papua New Guinean government increasingly use the term sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) to distinguish the violence from the underlying beliefs themselves. The focus is not on whether people believe sorcery exists, but on the organised abuse, torture, displacement and killings that follow accusations. International bodies now recognise SARV as both a human rights crisis and a governance challenge requiring legal enforcement, public education and stronger protection for vulnerable people. The United Nations in Papua New Guinea[papuanewguinea.un.org]papuanewguinea.un.orgThe United Nations in Papua New GuineaThe United Nations strongly condemns all forms of violence and calls for immediate action against t…

How accusations form after death or illness

Most accusations begin after an unexpected event rather than through random suspicion. A healthy person dies suddenly, a child becomes seriously ill, crops fail, or an accident occurs. Where access to medical diagnosis is limited, uncertainty creates pressure to find a human cause. Instead of accepting chance or disease, relatives may ask who intentionally caused the harm through supernatural means.

The search for an explanation often unfolds collectively. Family members exchange rumours, neighbours recall past disputes, and older grievances are reinterpreted as evidence. Someone who argued with the victim, lived alone, appeared socially isolated or already carried a reputation for unusual behaviour may become the focus of suspicion. Once enough influential people agree on a suspect, the accusation can gain momentum regardless of the absence of physical evidence.

This process helps explain why accusations frequently arise during periods of emotional shock. Grief, fear and anger create strong incentives to identify a responsible person. Rather than reducing uncertainty, the accusation gives communities a narrative that appears to explain an otherwise inexplicable loss.

The role of diviners and social conflict

Many accusations do not emerge spontaneously. They are often reinforced by individuals who claim to identify the hidden source of supernatural harm. These figures—known in some areas as glasman or glasmeri—may use dreams, visions, ritual techniques or spiritual authority to identify an alleged sorcerer.

Their influence matters because they transform vague suspicion into a named accusation. Once a respected diviner identifies someone, community members may regard the accusation as confirmed rather than speculative. The accusation can then legitimise collective punishment in the eyes of participants, even though no objective evidence has been produced. Recognising this role, recent legal reforms have specifically targeted those who knowingly make accusations that lead to violence.[The Australian]theaustralian.com.auThe Australian PNG bid to stamp out sorcery killingsThis is the first conviction under the 2022 Glasman Act, which criminalizes sorcery allegations, regardless of resulting harm, with penal…

Researchers also stress that accusations rarely arise in a social vacuum. Existing conflicts frequently shape who becomes the target. Disputes over land, inheritance, marriage, business, political influence or family rivalries can all be reframed as evidence of hidden sorcery. In this sense, accusations become a mechanism through which older conflicts are settled under the language of supernatural justice rather than ordinary disagreement.

Who is most likely to be targeted?

Although men can be accused, women are disproportionately affected, especially widows, older women, women living without strong male relatives, and those regarded as socially vulnerable. People with disabilities, children and older people may also face heightened risks because they are less able to defend themselves or escape. The United Nations in Papua New Guinea[papuanewguinea.un.org]papuanewguinea.un.orgThe United Nations in Papua New GuineaTake Action to End Sorcery Accusation Related Violence | United Nations in Papua New GuineaJuly 10…

Victims are often selected because they occupy a weak social position rather than because of anything they have done. Researchers have documented cases in which accusations followed disputes over property, domestic violence, jealousy or attempts to remove someone from land or inheritance claims. Human rights organisations therefore argue that sorcery accusations frequently operate as a pretext for broader forms of gender-based and community violence rather than reflecting genuine investigations into supernatural harm.[Amnesty International]amnesty.orgAmnesty InternationalPapua New Guinea: Vicious ‘sorcery’ killing leaves two more women at imminent riskMay 26, 2015…Published: May 26, 2015

The consequences extend beyond immediate physical violence. Survivors may lose their homes, be permanently displaced, become separated from children or require relocation for their own safety because returning to their community remains impossible.

Why collective violence spreads so quickly

Collective violence develops because responsibility becomes shared across a group. Once respected figures endorse an accusation, neighbours and relatives may feel morally obliged to participate or at least not intervene. Fear also plays an important role. Refusing to support punishment may itself attract suspicion or accusations of protecting a sorcerer.

Violence often escalates through several stages:

Researchers note that these dynamics resemble other forms of collective persecution: individual responsibility becomes diluted as participants convince themselves they are acting on behalf of the wider community rather than committing a criminal assault.

Law, policing and the problem of impunity

Papua New Guinea has attempted significant legal reforms, but enforcement remains inconsistent.

The country’s 1971 Sorcery Act was widely criticised because aspects of it were interpreted as recognising sorcery claims and could be invoked to mitigate responsibility for violent acts. Parliament repealed the Act in 2013 following growing concern about brutal attacks on accused individuals.[Amnesty International]amnesty.orgAmnesty InternationalPapua New Guinea repeals Sorcery Act while moving closer to executions - Amnesty InternationalMay 28, 2013…Published: May 28, 2013

Legal reform alone, however, did not end the violence. Police often face severe resource shortages, difficult terrain, community resistance or fears of retaliation. Some incidents occur in remote locations where authorities arrive only after attacks have taken place. Human rights organisations continue to report that relatively few cases result in successful prosecution, contributing to a perception that perpetrators are unlikely to face punishment. The United Nations in Papua New Guinea[papuanewguinea.un.org]papuanewguinea.un.orgThe United Nations in Papua New GuineaThe United Nations strongly condemns all forms of violence and calls for immediate action against t…

More recently, Papua New Guinea introduced legislation aimed specifically at people who deliberately make sorcery accusations that lead to violence. A landmark conviction under this newer framework demonstrated an effort to hold accusers—not only those carrying out physical attacks—criminally responsible.[The Australian]theaustralian.com.auThe Australian PNG bid to stamp out sorcery killingsThis is the first conviction under the 2022 Glasman Act, which criminalizes sorcery allegations, regardless of resulting harm, with penal…

How communities are trying to prevent violence

The most successful responses recognise that punishment alone cannot eliminate SARV. Prevention requires reducing the conditions that allow accusations to flourish.

The government’s Sorcery Accusation Related Violence National Action Plan adopts several linked approaches:

Churches often play an important role because they remain trusted institutions in many communities. Clergy may intervene during accusations, provide temporary refuge or publicly reject the idea that violence can be justified as a response to alleged sorcery. Local women’s organisations, human rights defenders and survivor networks likewise assist victims with emergency shelter, medical treatment, relocation and legal support.

International organisations, including the United Nations, have repeatedly argued that effective prevention depends on visible law enforcement, better health services, improved access to justice and sustained community education rather than treating SARV as an unavoidable cultural practice. The United Nations in Papua New Guinea[papuanewguinea.un.org]papuanewguinea.un.orgThe United Nations in Papua New GuineaThe United Nations strongly condemns all forms of violence and calls for immediate action against t…

Why sorcery violence remains important to understanding Papua New Guinea

Sorcery accusation-related violence illustrates how collective belief can become collective persecution when uncertainty, grief and social conflict converge. The crucial mechanism is not belief alone but the social process that turns suspicion into certainty and certainty into organised violence.

For historians and social scientists, SARV demonstrates how rumours, authority and existing inequalities can produce real-world harm without requiring objective evidence against the accused. For policymakers, it highlights the importance of functioning health systems, trusted policing, accessible courts and local leadership capable of interrupting accusations before they become attacks.

Understanding this mechanism also helps distinguish SARV from other forms of collective belief in Papua New Guinea. Unlike millenarian religious movements or colonial-era “cargo cult” scares, sorcery accusation-related violence centres on identifying and punishing an alleged hidden enemy. Its significance today lies not in unusual beliefs themselves but in the continuing challenge of preventing suspicion from becoming organised violence.

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Endnotes

1. Source: png.highcommission.gov.au
Link:https://png.highcommission.gov.au/pmsb/786.html

2. Source: amnesty.org
Link:https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/05/papua-new-guinea-vicious-sorcery-killing-leaves-two-more-women-at-imminent-risk/

Published: May 26, 2015

3. Source: amnesty.org
Link:https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/05/papua-new-guinea-repeals-sorcery-act-while-moving-closer-executions/

Published: May 28, 2013

4. Source: amnesty.org
Title: Papua New Guinea: Appalling violence against six women in Easter ‘witch-hunt’
Link:https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2013/04/papua-new-guinea-appalling-violence-against-six-women-easter-witch-hunt/

5. Source: amnesty.org
Link:https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ASA34/005/2010/en/

6. Source: papuanewguinea.un.org
Link:https://papuanewguinea.un.org/en/167035-united-nations-strongly-condemns-all-forms-violence-and-calls-immediate-action-against

7. Source: theaustralian.com.au
Title: The Australian PNG bid to stamp out sorcery killings
Link:https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/sorcery-accuser-jailed-in-landmark-png-case-after-victim-hacked-to-death/news-story/8dee0c41e46c4aaa4354066561133cd0

8. Source: papuanewguinea.un.org
Link:https://papuanewguinea.un.org/en/297748-take-action-end-sorcery-accusation-related-violence

9. Source: png.unfpa.org
Link:https://png.unfpa.org/en/news/restoring-hope-and-dignity-survivors-sorcery-accusation-related-violence-papua-new-guinea

Published: October 11, 2024

10. Source: papuanewguinea.un.org
Title: 222039 united nations urges stronger action end scourge violence png communities
Link:https://papuanewguinea.un.org/en/222039-united-nations-urges-stronger-action-end-scourge-violence-png-communities

11. Source: hrw.org
Title: papua new guinea
Link:https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/papua-new-guinea

12. Source: hrw.org
Title: papua new guinea
Link:https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/papua-new-guinea

Additional References

13. Source: png.unfpa.org
Link:https://png.unfpa.org/en/news/sorcery-accusation-related-violence-inflicts-severe-physical-and-psychological-scars

14. Source: youtube.com
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-oh6bLse7I

15. Source: youtube.com
Title: ‘Noken Kilim Meri: A Documentary on Sorcery Accusation Related Violence’
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CIbqfv0-4A

16. Source: youtube.com
Title: Papua New Guinea: A War on Witches | 101 East
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeNn_Kh7Qmc

17. Source: youtube.com
Title: The Witch-hunts Of Papua New Guinea | Get Real
Link:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5owgdN1Zc6M

18. Source: devpolicy.org
Link:https://devpolicy.org/publications/preliminary-findings-concerning-sorcery-accusation-related-violence-in-png-2019/

19. Source: undp.org
Link:https://www.undp.org/papua-new-guinea/projects/equality-women-and-girls-gender-based-violence-sorcery-accusation-related-violence-and-violence-against-children

20. Source: amnesty.org.uk
Link:https://www.amnesty.org.uk/papua-new-guinea-women-accused-sorcery-released

21. Source: tandfonline.com
Link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10439463.2021.1953026

22. Source: tandfonline.com
Link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10439463.2021.1953026