Everybody’s Business Film

Project Description

Numerous media reports and the personal experience of the project applicants report that sorcery and witchcraft accusation and violence are escalating in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. People, particularly women, whose lives have always been subject to a culture of violence, are now subject to the threat of even higher levels of inhuman violence (including being stripped naked, tortured with heated iron instruments and in some cases burned alive on lighted tyres). While the belief in sorcery dates from long time ago in Papua New Guinea, the violence evolving from it is somehow a new phenomenon. Unfortunately, it seems to be affecting whole communities with a form of hysteria for which communities have few cultural and social controlling mechanisms to overcome it. The area most affected by this kind of violence is the region of the Highlands, where the film will take place.

While the violence is dramatically spreading, there is also an increasing number of advocates and organisations that are becoming aware of this dangerous phenomenon and are trying to mitigate and stop this evil.

The leading role of the Catholic Church is remarkable. The Highlands Bishops (dioceses of Goroka, Kundiawa, Mt Hagen, Mendi, Wabag) have sent strong messages to be read in all parishes and are supporting workshops and training to advocate against the belief in witchcraft and the associated violence. The Bishop of Wabag excommunicates any Catholic involved as perpetrators or even passive onlookers of such occurrences. The Church also tries to meet the medical, psychological and spiritual needs of the survivors.

On another front, there is a group of mainly local women that lead Community Based Organisations and that fall under the umbrella of the Human Rights Defenders. These people put their lives at risk to support the accused victims and also have a strong role in the community when it comes to relief, advocacy, awareness and reconciliation. Supported by few international (Oxfam, UN) and local Non-Government Organisations, the Human Right Defenders are working to stop the violence or to help repatriate the survivors to places where they can find relative safety. Unfortunately, police and law enforcement agencies have only limited influence.

In addition, there is a well-developed Sorcery National Action Plan approved by the Government, however, its effectiveness is severely restricted by absence of any Government funding.

The proponents of this project developed a film on Witchcraft Accusation Violence which they showed at the PNG Human Rights Film Festival in 2016. The film may be viewed at:

It received acclaim as a film that reveals the problem but also documents the efforts of those working to rescue and assist the victims of this violence along with the development of the Sorcery National Action Plan.

The film project aimed to update developments in the situation over the last two years, and to focus on the experience of survivors, especially on how they have found support and the willingness to work against this terrible violence. The film focused on human rights and the way such persons, individuals and groups (often faith-based) are striving to help not only victims but whole communities realize and start to deal with the human rights issues involved.

The film was shown in draft form at the PNG Human Rights Film Festival in September and in Madang and in October in Port Moresby (2018). The film was used in a range of presentations to government, for example, at the Workshop with the Public Solicitor’s Office, with the United Church Men’s Advocacy Program and with the National Research Institute in-house seminar.

Filming was done during the weeks of 19-31 March 2018.