This piece looks at the modern epidemic of witchcraft accusations in the Democratic republic of Congo, from it's urban roots in mid 1990's DRC to the present. It makes the argument that changes in traditional beliefs about witchcraft and the blurring of boundaries between adult and child roles in society, means the future for great numbers Congolese children, looks no less worrying than at present.

http://www.congonova.org/revue/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=186:the-future-of-child-witchcraft-in-drc&catid=36:a


"Today, an estimated 50,000 children accused of witchcraft live on the streets of Congo's largest cities. While not all street children (shege) have been accused of practicing sorcery, the majority of these children are believed to possess this dangerous power.[1] Today, witchcraft accusations have reached epidemic proportions in DRC, primarily targeting youth in urban areas (Cimpric 2010; Tate 2006).

The accusation of children is a relatively new phenomenon, first appearing in cities in the mid-1990s (de Boeck 2009; Tate 2006; Molina 2006). Before then, it was believed that children could receive witchcraft, but that the power would not reach its full form until adulthood. While adult accusations most often result in ostracism and stigmatization, today's child witches may endure a variety of physical abuses in addition before being sent to an église de réveil (Revivalist Church) for a deliverance ritual or being cast from the home (Molina 2006)."

[...]

"What is the future of child witchcraft in DRC? Many have suggested that when the economic and social situations improve, églises de réveil will decrease in prominence and children will no longer bear the brunt of witchcraft accusations. While I am certain that improvement in the social situation will decrease the prevalence of accused children, I am hesitant to propose the adoption of such an optimistic view.

Children were once believed incapable of possessing witchcraft in its full form, and thus, unable to exercise significant harm through witchcraft. Today, images of the child witch dominate the public imagination. Stories of enfants sorciers with superhuman capabilities fill dialogue within charismatic churches and inspire testimonials in pamphlets and on radio shows dedicated to discussions of good, evil, and the supernatural. People now believe that children can possess witchcraft in its full, destructive form. The elder, widowed witch of villages has a new companion—the child of the streets, equally suited to conduct nefarious activities of the night. Even if the social motivations for accusation improve, children now comprise part of the publicly imagined "witch." I predict children will continue to play a prominent role in the ongoing narrative of what it means to be a witch in Congolese society, as they join in a historical trajectory marked by an increasingly pejorative understanding of the term "witch" and expanding views of who can have the power of witchcraft."