Sorcery Related Violence Terminology
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. It includes witchcraft, sanguma, posen etc
- Sorcery accusation related violence (SARV) – means violence that is directed at people who have been accused of practising sorcery.
- Sorcery accusation – means someone accusing someone of practising sorcery
- Victim/ survivor – means people who have been harmed by people because of being accused of practising sorcery
- Perpetrators – are the people who have carried out violence against people accused of sorcery
- Accusers – are people who accuse someone of sorcery
- Target of sorcery – means a person/animal/plant that people believe has been harmed by sorcery
