The
number of children in England identified by councils as having been
abused for reasons associated with witchcraft has risen by a third in
the past three years, the Local Government Association has revealed.
Abuse
of children based on faith or belief – which includes witchcraft,
spirit possession and black magic – increased from 1,460 to 1,950 cases
between 2016/17 and 2018/19, a rise of 34 per cent, with councils
dealing with the equivalent of 38 such cases a week.
The new
figures also show that the number of children identified by councils
through a social work assessment as either having or being at risk of
FGM has reached a record high – with 1,000 such cases in 2018/19, up 6
per cent on the 940 cases in the previous year.
The National FGM
Centre, a joint initiative between the LGA and Barnardo’s, says both
sets of figures are hugely worrying, of significant national concern and
probably don’t reflect the true prevalence of this “hidden” crime.
The LGA said that council social workers have become better at identifying cases, and that the work of the National FGM Centre – which provides services for children and their families affected by FGM and abuse linked to faith or belief – is vital.
The
figures also reflect the pressure on children’s services with social
workers starting new “episode of need” cases for more than 1,000
children each day.
The LGA said the next government needs to
ensure councils have the funding needed to continue to take effective
action to keep children safe from harm and abuse.
Leethen Bartholomew, Head of the National FGM Centre, said:
“We want to help end new cases of FGM in England by 2030 and to safeguard children from other harmful practices like child abuse linked to faith or belief. In order to achieve this, we need more partnership working, resources to tackle the issue, mandatory training for professionals and more awareness raised among communities.”