Campaign to End Child Sacrifice

Child sacrifice is startlingly common in Uganda, with more abductions,
mutilations and killings than the authorities acknowledge.

Children on the Edge have been at the forefront of a successful campaign
to change the law in Uganda and give communities legal backing
to protect their children from this abhorrent practice.

Child sacrifice has emerged as a horrifying form of child abuse in Uganda. Police records have highlighted numerous cases of child sacrifice over the past decade and the media has been awash with stories covering the gruesome ritualised mutilation or murder of young children.

Children on the Edge, together with campaigner Annie Ikpa and our sister organisation, Children on the Edge Africa, have been campaigning to change the law in Uganda since 2016.

On the 4th May 2021, the Ugandan Parliament made the momentous decision to pass The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill, specifically addressing the crime of child sacrifice.

The passing of the Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Act is monumental; communities now have the backing of the law to protect their children from this abhorrent practice.

CHANGING THE LAW

After years of hard work and a successful campaign, The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Act 2021 was officially signed into law by the President on the 14th July 2021.

The new law aims to curb rampant cases of human sacrifice in Uganda by addressing gaps in the existing legislation that do not adequately handle the practice of child sacrifice and ritual murder as a specific crime.

Human sacrifice cases have a very unique nature, but have historically been prosecuted as murder under the Penal Code Act, or under Human Trafficking legislation, neither of which is sufficient to deal with the crime. Sadly, this has resulted in perpetrators committing crimes with relative impunity and the unchecked growth of the practice.

Seven campaigners and staff members from Children on the Edge Africa are gathered together in a room, dressed smartly.

The campaign team celebrating in Uganda after the Bill passed in May 2021

Watch the highlights from our virtual event, where we tell the inside story of our five-year fight to change the law. The conversation includes the many highs and lows, what inspired the campaign, and how it all started with a group of local community volunteers working to protect their own children.

THE PRACTICE OF CHILD SACRIFICE

In the past decade, the sacrifice of children in Uganda has been cited by the media, police and Government of Uganda as a major child protection concern.

The police have indicated that the eastern region of Uganda has the highest incidence of child sacrifice cases; with police chief Moses Binonga blaming the high infiltration of unregistered healers. With little protection or justice from the authorities, the slum communities we work with in and around Jinja, were seemingly powerless.

A study carried out by Uganda Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN) with support from Children on the Edge, showed how the practice is rooted in a number of socio-economic and cultural factors as well as traditional beliefs that the ritual murder or mutilation of children can bring health, wealth and good fortune. Children are more likely to fall victim to sacrifice compared to adults, because they are more easily lured and believed to be “pure”. Adults drawn to the practice are tricked into believing that the purity of a child makes the ritual more powerful.

Ugandan child carries baby on her back, standing in a Ugandan slum with corrugated iron huts and rubbish on the dirt floor.

Many children in the slums of Uganda are vulnerable to child sacrifice.

ENDING CHILD SACRIFICE IN SLUM COMMUNITIES

Children on the Edge work with slum communities in the suburbs of Jinja, Uganda, where children are at risk of abuse, trafficking, neglect and in extreme cases, child sacrifice.

Since 2012 we have been working to make these communities safer and eradicate the practice of child sacrifice at a local level, along with campaigning for a change in Ugandan law to protect children from this awful crime at a national level.

When we started working with the people living in Masese II, a small slum community on the outskirts of Jinja in eastern Uganda in 2012, children were particularly at risk of abduction and sacrifice. To keep children safe, a pilot Child Protection Team (CPT) model was created at the height of a spate of local killings.

Through community workshops, the Child Protection Team, made up of local volunteers, raised awareness on the issue of child sacrifice, tackling the beliefs, mindsets and behaviour that sustain the practice. They helped people to build productive livelihoods to ensure parents could afford to send their children to school and keep them safe throughout the day.

The Child Protection Team created a strong safety net within the community with easy access to the police. With the provision of a bicycle and loudspeaker, people could quickly alert the neighbourhood and the police to the presence of suspected perpetrators.

Attackers started to realise they would easily get caught if they tried to harm children in the area. All of these measures resulted in the complete eradication of child sacrifice incidents in Masese II.

This Child Protection Team Model has been replicated successfully in a further five slum communities in Uganda. They not only protect children from child sacrifice, but from abuse, neglect and exploitation. We are currently working to create teams in new areas where children are at risk and need protection.

CAMPAIGN FOR NATIONAL CHANGE

Since this success in protecting children at community level we recognised the need to create a protective environment for children at the national level. Existing legislation at national level was ill-equipped to deal with the crime. While incidents of child sacrifice were reported to police and investigated, there were very few prosecutions.

Consequently, in 2015 Children on the Edge began to campaign for stand-alone legislation, to address child sacrifice in the Ugandan parliament through the Prevention of Human Sacrifice and Harmful Practices Bill. Read about how a Bill becomes law in Uganda.

Together with Annie Ikpa (a media professional and the instigator of the concept of the Bill), we began work with the Ugandan Child Rights NGO Network (UCRNN) to lobby for this vital change.

Working as a volunteer in Uganda, Annie witnessed first-hand some of the disturbing consequences of this practice. She created an original campaign film about the issue and was determined to change the law, working tirelessly on the campaign ever since.

In 2017 MP Atiku Bernard introduced a private members Bill for the Act. We were soon joined by World Vision Uganda and Ugandan agencies over the years as well as Members of Parliament. The group worked through the meticulous process of numerous research projects, rewrites, refinements and readings, to get to the crucial landmark decision that was made in Parliament to pass the Bill on May 4th 2021.

The Prevention and Prohibition of Human Sacrifice Bill 2020 was passed by Ugandan Parliament on the 4th May 2021. Before it could officially become Law, it needed to be prepared for 'assent' by the President of Uganda. It was officially signed on the 14th July 2021 by the President, so communities now have the backing of the law to protect their children.

Winnie, a Ugandan woman and CEO of Children on the Edge Africa is speaking with a microphone to a group of people in a formal room.

Winnie Biira speaking in Parliament

“OUR CHILD PROTECTION TEAMS HAVE HAD A GREAT SUCCESS IN KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE AND VASTLY DECREASING ABDUCTIONS IN MANY AREAS SURROUNDING JINJA. BUT SINCE OUR PROGRESS AT A GRASSROOTS LEVEL WE RECOGNISED THE NEED TO WORK ON THE NATIONWIDE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTECTIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR UGANDAN CHILDREN REGARDING THIS ISSUE".

Winnie Biira, CEO of Children on the Edge Africa

"WHEN THE NEWS CAME THROUGH ABOUT THE BILL PASSING, WE WERE ALL IN A TEAM MEETING. THE WHOLE OF OUR OFFICE WAS JUMPING UP AND DOWN SCREAMING AND SHOUTING. IT IS A HUGE LOAD OFF OUR SHOULDERS AFTER OVER FIVE YEARS OF CAMPAIGNING.

IT IS A MILESTONE AND THE FACT THAT THE LAW NOT ONLY COVERS DIRECT PERPETRATORS, BUT THOSE WHO FUND AND FUEL THEM FROM THE SHADOWS, THIS WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE.".

Gladys Akello, Programme Coordinator at Children on the Edge Africa

Annie Ikpa was the instigator of the new law and worked with us at the forefront of the campaign to end child sacrifice in Uganda.

Hear her talk to Lad TV about what inspired her to start campaigning as well as what it took to introduce a law that will change the lives of many children.