PORT MORESBY – Those involved in helping vulnerable and abused women in Papua New Guinea are hoping that Pope Francis’s three-day visit to the country could help bring change to the insidious connection that persists between gender discrimination and superstitious beliefs around dark magic and sorcery.
Belief in sorcery or witchcraft in various forms is deeply entrenched in areas of Papua New Guinea, including both rural and urban areas, but especially in the remote highlands, and violence related to accusations of sorcery or witchcraft is a widespread problem for the country.
