Sorcery not real, leaders say

Leaders from village courts in Enga say sorcery is not real after undergoing awareness on violence associated the belief.
They said a week-long workshop was helpful and had cleared up misconceptions.
The workshop was about sorcery accusation-related violence, gender-based violence and human rights and was funded by the Wabag Catholic dioceses and held at Pina parish and started on Monday.
Maremba village court magistrate Anton Latu said the common belief had been that sorcery was real but “today we understand that it is not”.
He said the national government needed to fund the work of the village magistrates in Enga to combat the beliefs and misinformation because they were the front liners and influential members of the communities they represented.
“We are on the frontline and many times, we have been attacked in the process of doing our jobs,” he said.
Latu said more work needed to be done with the village courts to address gender-based violence.