Forteana

Thousands of children in England have been accused of witchcraft over the past decade, according to new figures that come alongside a film released on Monday.

Faith-based abuse is a worldwide phenomenon but experts found 14,000 social work assessments linked to witchcraft accusations since 2015. In the year running to March 2024 alone, there were 2,180 assessments linked to witchcraft.

The statistics, compiled by the National FGM Centre, come as the film Kindoki Witch Boy is released, telling the story of Mardoche Yembi, 33, who was accused of witchcraft as a child growing up in north London and subjected to an exorcism. Its release date also marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Victoria Climbié, an eight-year-old girl who was tortured after accusations of witchcraft were levelled against her.

Yembi hopes that the new film will encourage more of these children who are suffering behind closed doors to come forward.

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Kindoki is one of several words used to describe the kind of witchcraft Yembi and Victoria were accused of along with terms sucha as djin, juju and voodoo.

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Yembi and Victoria were born just weeks apart and lived a few miles from each other in north London. Yembi was sent to the UK at the age of eight by his father from his home country of the Democratic Republic of the Congo after his mother died, to be looked after by relatives.

Like many other children facing witchcraft accusations, Yembi was scapegoated for causing health and financial misfortunes in his relatives’ lives. Social services became concerned about him because his extended family said they wanted to send him back to DRC for an exorcism.

Unlike Victoria, he did not experience physical abuse, but social services placed him with a foster mother who supported him for the next decade. He thrived in her care and now works to support young care leavers.