Kendyl Bailey, a student journalist from QUT recently wrote this piece on Bougainville, sorcery and peace Australia. Revered as the land of a ‘fair go’ and mateship; home of the humble barbeque. Though things more sinister transpire in our country’s borders (the latest calamity: should a much-loved Sri Lankan family be removed from detention and […]
Miranda Forsyth conducted fieldwork on sorcery accusations and related violence in Lae city from 9 to 17 April 2018. She conducted 14 interviews with key stakeholders, two with survivors, and one observation of SARV awareness just outside of Lae, and generated the following preliminary observations/ findings. Frequency and trends of SARV It is very […]
The terms used to refer to different people and different practices in this area can be confusing. There is a risk of people not communicating properly when key terms have different meanings. Therefore we propose that we adopt the following definitions: Sorcery – means all types of practices that involve using supernatural means to cause harm. […]
This summary is prepared by Dr Miranda Forsyth, Australian National University, in order to clarify misunderstandings about the legal situation in relation to these issues. It has no official authorisation. Sorcery accusation related violence, including torture, is covered by a number of Criminal Code offences, including: Willful murder (s299) and Murder (s300) Grievous bodily […]
