A visual journey into the silenced harms of witchcraft accusations
Witch hunts in the 21st century: a human rights catastrophe is a visual journey into the silenced harms of witchcraft accusations—honouring memory, resilience and the call for justice.
Having been exhibited in India, the UK, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and the USA, this powerful exhibition has arrived in Australia. It was launched at the Australian National University on Thursday, 3 July 2025. The exhibition invited participants to reflect, remember and stand in solidarity with those seeking justice and healing.
Curated by the NGO International Network Against Witchcraft Accusations and Ritual Attacks (INAWARA), the exhibition featured 20 evocative photographs, including prize-winning entries, from a global competition. The images offered glimpses into the lives of those affected, capturing moments of fear and resilience, joy and grief, ritual and remembrance. Through images of children, women, the elderly, sons, daughters, siblings, parents and communities, the exhibition honours the complexity of human responses: sorrow, survival, resistance and hope.
INAWARA’s Director and RegNet Professor Miranda Forsyth opened the exhibition by highlighting a global human rights crisis that has long been pushed to the margins of international legal concern.
“In my work as Director of INAWARA, I am regularly sent images of the most shocking and gruesome violence to women, related to witchcraft accusations,” she said.
“I am told about these cases on a depressingly regular basis, sometimes with, and sometimes without, video footage or photographs. Most cases involve an element of public torture and collective violence. Most are triggered by a death or sickness.
“But frequent as these cases are, they are just the tip of the iceberg. Many, many more cases go unrecorded in any way.
“These photographs are a visual act of remembrance. They affirm that those harmed by witchcraft accusations are not forgotten or voiceless. Their lives matter, their agency matters and their right to safety, dignity and healing must be recognised.”
The exhibition was initiated by Professor Forsyth with the valuable support of Felicity Tepper, who coordinated local efforts and logistics to bring this important initiative to life.
“I’m glad this event could be shared locally and contribute to the global conversation. It’s very rewarding to see it come together so well and become part of a meaningful international effort,” said Felicity.
Held in conjunction with the ANZSIL conference International Law: Silence, Forgetting and Remembrance, the exhibition aligns with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Resolution A/HRC/RES/47/8, passed in 2021, which calls for the elimination of harmful practices related to witchcraft accusations and ritual attacks. The resolution emphasises the importance of distinguishing between belief and harm, and urges states and civil society to act.
Listen to Professor Forsyth’s full speech here.
