Rev'd Prof Helen Hall, Nottingham Law School https://www.ntu.ac.uk/staff-profiles/law/helen-hall
In February 2025 the Scottish Register of Tartans recognised a new design, created to commemorate those who suffered and died as a result of witchcraft trials between 1563 and 1736. How we remember and understand our past shapes our choices and experiences in the present, and it is poignant that this happened to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Victoria Climbie’s death. Eight-year-old Victoria was tortured and eventually killed by relatives supposedly caring for her in an informal fostering arrangement. The factors leading to the tragedy were complex, but one driver and justification for Victoria’s appalling abuse was the belief that she was a “witch” in the sense of an evil supernatural being.
It is well recorded that public authorities missed multiple opportunities to intervene and safe Victoria. The issues which enabled this catastrophic failure in child protection were multifaceted, but an inability to recognise and appropriately respond to abuse driven by spiritual beliefs was a key problem. An inquiry was set up in an effort to ensure that lessons could be learnt going forwards, and a report was presented to Parliament in 2003. Nevertheless, despite the attention that this case received, and the action taken in its aftermath, the problem of spiritual and ritual abuse remains largely hidden within the contemporary United Kingdom.
There is still a widespread perception that accusations of witchcraft or spirit possession belong to another era, a world before the Enlightenment and popular acceptance of scientific method. Unfortunately, the reality is very different. Vulnerable individuals, especially children, are subjected to physical and psychological harm because they are perceived to be a supernatural threat. The 2025 film, Kindoki Witch Boy, depicts in alarming and moving detail the reality of such experiences for the victims.
It should be emphasised however that beliefs related to Kindoki and the African diaspora are only one context in which spiritual or ritual abuse can arise. There is potential for patterns of dangerous, harmful and aggressive behaviour to take root within any religious or cultural setting. The problem is not belief in evil spirits or beings, but individuals who action on these beliefs in ways that hurt third parties. Improving our collective understanding of different belief and practices within the vibrant and diverse society that makes up modern Britain is essential, if we are to become better at recognising dangerous and abusive situations in time to take action. Stereotyping or making sweeping assumptions about minority and often marginalised groups will only cause further damage, as it risks both stigmatising or discriminating against non-abusive practices and overlooking real red flags.
There are some changes to the legal framework that might be made to improve our ability to respond to these situations. For example, there is currently a campaign to extend the offence of coercive control to religious and spiritual leaders. However, the core legal provisions in place are adequate to deal with the challenges of spiritual and ritual abuse. Local authorities already have both a right and a duty to intervene if children are suffering or at risk of significant harm (see Children Act 1989 s31). There also are already a range of mechanisms within both criminal law and tort to punish perpetrators and protect those harmed by spiritual and ritual abuse e.g. offences against the person, such as actual or grievous bodily harm, as well as both the tort and crime of harassment.
The greater problem in this sphere is not the law itself, but the social backdrop within which it operates. If accusations of witchcraft or demonic possession as imagined as belonging to the distant past, or the ambit of horror films, then police officers, teachers, social workers, doctors, colleagues and friends are less likely to recognise signs of spiritual and ritual abuse in children or adults with whom they come into contact. Equally, if we regard beliefs and practices that are unfamiliar to us as “other” and intrinsically mysterious or threatening, then we are in no position to discern the wood from the trees. For instance, although less widespread in the UK than the US, there have been occasions in which pagan families have faced allegations of child abuse simply for living out their spirituality.
Law cannot, and does not, operate in a vacuum. If we want our frameworks of criminal and child protection law to serve to safeguard vulnerable individuals from the harmful impact of witchcraft accusations, then we need to appreciate that these are a reality in the UK in the 2020s, and one that needs to be taken seriously.
Related Articles
“Newly Approved Tartan Design Memorialises Those Persecuted Under Scotland’s Witchcraft Act” The Wild Hunt (19/2/2025) https://wildhunt.org/2025/02/newly-approved-tartan-design-memorializes-those-persecuted-under-scotlands-witchcraft-act.html
“What is Kindoki? This innocent man was accused of it and blamed for the deaths of his mother and baby sister” Sky News (13/3/2025) https://news.sky.com/story/what-is-kindoki-this-innocent-man-was-accused-of-it-and-blamed-for-deaths-of-mother-and-baby-sister-13326152
Kindoki Witch Boy International Network Against Witchcraft Accusations and Ritual Attack https://www.theinternationalnetwork.org/podcasts-videos/kindoki-witch-boy
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