The intersection of sexual violence and contemporary witchcraft accusations
Date: 04 March 2026
Time: 8pm-9pm AEST
Venue: Online - click here
About Our Event
This session will focus on the link between sexual violence and accusations of witchcraft. In many, but certainly not all, countries where witchcraft accusations and associated violence occur, those who are accused experience a range of sexual violence including forced undressing and public nudity, sexual assault and rape. The speakers in this seminar will discuss the specific contexts of Papua New Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Across both contexts, shared drivers of sexual violence include entrenched gender inequality, normalisation of violence against women and weak legal accountability. The speakers will also invite participants to discuss other areas of the world where such violence occurs 9or does not occur), in order to advance our understanding of the extent to which it is a common phenomenon.
Miranda Forsyth is a Professor and socio-legal researcher in the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) at the Australian National University and the Director of The International Network Against Accusations of Witchcraft and Associated Harmful Practices. She has research interests in legal pluralism, restorative justice, crime and peace and works predominantly in Melanesia. She has led a research agenda on Overcoming Sorcery Accusation Related Violence in Papua New Guinea since 2013 and is author of many articles and other resources on the topic.
Ali Moloney is a nurse academic and researcher whose work focuses on strengthening health systems across Papua New Guinea and the Pacific region. Her research centres on sorcery accusation-related violence, gender-based violence, and the health system impacts of extreme and structural violence. She works collaboratively with Pacific partners to generate context-specific evidence that informs culturally safe, trauma-informed service delivery with the aim to generate policy reform. Ali is committed to co-design and local partnership, and her work prioritises collaboration with in-country stakeholders to support sustainable, locally driven solutions that advance gender equity, cultural safety and health system resilience across the Pacific.
Thérèse MEMA Mapenzi s a women’s rights activist from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She holds a Master’s degree in Peacebuilding from Coventry University (United Kingdom) and a Bachelor’s degree in English and African Cultures from ISP Bukavu (DRC). She has extensive theoretical and practical experience in addressing Gender-Based Violence (GBV), psychosocial care to traumatized people, Conflict transformation, Women Peace and Security supported by the 1325 resolution, women leadership and advocacy. To improve her work experience, Thérèse Mema participate in many researchers to reconcile theory and practice and all are related to peace and conflict, gender analysis, women leadership…
For the past 18 years, Thérèse MEMA has worked alongside survivors of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in South Kivu, DRC, and has shared her expertise with numerous national and international organizations: Centre Olame, SCIAF, CAFOD, MISSIO, DEFAEM, FBA, Manos Unidas, Pain pour le monde…Together with her team, she has supported more than 4,849 women and girls survivors of sexual violence as well as gender based violence, approximately 549 children born of rape and other vulnerable children, as well as over 186 women falsely accused of witchcraft. The atrocities committed against these women and girls aggregate to modern-day slavery. Women’s bodies have been used as weapons of war in addition to this, many women continue to suffer from injustice fueled by harmful cultural practices and poverty that are fueled by witchcraft accusations followed by many other violence.
In recognition of her commitment to combating Gender-Based Violence, Thérèse MEMA has received several prestigious awards, including the Coventry Prize for Peace and Reconciliation (United Kingdom, November 2014), the Shalom Prize 2015 from Eichstätt, Germany, and the Human Rights Prize from the Civil Society of Bukavu (DRC), among other national honors from civil society organizations in her country.
Thérèse has participated in numerous advocacy meetings and international summits across the world and the Great Lakes Region (New York, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Germany, London, Italy, France, and Belgium). Through these platforms, she has advocated for the rights of women in conflict settings, campaigned against conflict minerals, denounced the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war in the DRC, and spoken out against the persecution of women accused of witchcraft. Thérèse dreams of a world where natural resources are shared equitably and used to unite people rather than to oppress or harm the most vulnerable. She firmly believes that when women are empowered holistically, they gain the strength to claim, defend, and protect their own rights.
