Passport to Righted Childhood not Child Ritual Abuse

Daughter: Princess Christie Manji Makalih Gwanmesia, the Anti-Child

Trafficking mascot (Picture: Daddy Iggy)

In the ever sinister kaleidoscope of abuses some humans inflict on children, is ritual
abuse. Paradoxical to their simplistic image of rectitude to the extent of infallibility,
there are plausible arguments to suggest that the role of churches/religions in the
ritual abuse of children is becoming overtly significant. In the United Kingdom, the
near quantum leap in the demography of fundamentalist religions; thanks to their
propaganda to provide solace in the face of increasing social exclusion, has been
accompanied by rituals practices on children that either directly harm or put them at
the risk of significant harm. Call it ritual abuse, exorcism, cleansing, purification or
‘spiritualisation’ the subjection of vulnerable children to any practices that predispose
them to danger; either physical or psychological is not only ethically deviant but in
some cases criminal. The irony in the ritual abuse of children by Black fundamentalist
sects in the United Kingdom is how prepared parents and supposed caregivers are
prepared to sacrifice the welfare of these vulnerable children to irrational practices to
achieve their own selfish ends. Based on unsubstantiated beliefs; inherent to their
respective indigenous heritages, black religious sects are socialising their followers
into ritual doctrines founded on the victimisation of children.

Ritual child abuse by sects is not a new phenomenon; however, society is only just
beginning to acknowledge and recognise its magnitude. Be it merely as political
propaganda paper; the fight against child abuse-related crimes as evident in most
party manifestos in the United Kingdom is testimony of the realism that child abuse
and the awareness of it permeates almost every orifice of today’s society and
governance. Globally, mind-numbing minutiae evidence of child abuses consisting of
sexual sadism and pornography, physical torture, and highly sophisticated
psychological manipulation are imperceptibly becoming public knowledge. In spite of
these, it is of heightened concern how implicitly, few of our policy statements are
specifically enacted to address children-related deviances in general and the ritual
abuse of children in particular. Indeed, while the daily lives of vulnerable and
impoverished African children and the complex network of relationships and
structures which shape them are well known and documented, our theories, research
agendas, policies and programmes have not been grounded in, and informed by
these experiences. Similarly, in spite of the increasing awareness and evidence of
the occurrence of the ritual abuse of children by religious sects, there is a visible and
disconcerting deficiency in the availability of comprehensive data on the structure
and operational strategies of this enterprise. What little fragmented data is available
has been generated from journalism, secondary data from non-governmental
organisations, rumours and from informants. Consequently, there is the imperative to
develop a more systematic framework that will henceforth guide and inform the
formulation of relevant child protection policies. My extensive experience and
knowledge of African cultural heritages; further enhanced by years of researching
into the trafficking of indigenous African children into and via the United Kingdom has
given me a privileged mandate to provide informed and pragmatic guidance on the
role of African religious sects in the ritual abuse of children.
Contrary to the iconography of rectitude ascribed to religions, their individual
followers are mortal like the rest of humanity; ‘fallible and capable of variable
deviances’. Because of the way religions present themselves and inculcate their
beliefs, their devotees are usually unaware of the many malign effects of religion.
Like child trafficking to which it is intrinsically linked, ritual child abuse is
imperceptibly becoming, a very lucrative enterprise. However, this article on this
nefarious phenomenon is not seeking to be judgmental; apportioning verdicts of
culpability or exonerating specific groups, factions or individuals, but rather to explore
and sensitise about those ideologies that underpins, sustains and perpetrates the
ritual abuse of children.
Secrecies, contestations, ambiguities, denials, collusions, paradoxes and the
identified information gap in our knowledge base have hitherto been the “Achilles’
heel” of researchers, policy makers and relevant others in their quest to address
issues related to the ritual abuse of children by religious sects. Exacerbating this
state of anarchy is the emerging phenomenon in a culture obsessed with political
correctness to avoid the issue so as ‘Not to be ‘seen as policing religion.’ Needless to
suggest that this is leading to the negation of essential child-wellbeing duties.

Now, what accounts for the preponderance of Black African religious sect in the ritual
abuse of children in the United Kingdom? Firstly, in child abuse in general and the
ritual abuse of children in particular, age differentials can give rise to power
differentials: children have less power since they often lack the resources or physical
strength, knowledge, information and money. Additionally, within the indigenous
locus of African culture, the concept of children's rights is still an anathema to many
people: children are ‘respected’ not ‘righted.’
Figure A. “In Africa we respect children not give them rights.” Bali elite, 2003

It is this disproportionate power relationship between the child victim of ritual abuse
and his or her abuser; and the diminished ‘rights’ of children that has heightened the
vulnerability of children to ritual abuse.
Cognisant of these realities; there is urgent need for research to bridge the gap in
our knowledge base on child ritual abuse. The primary objective should be to
generate a macro-theory of the church or religion’s role within this power structure
where children constitute the primary victims, with variable but prevalently
detrimental consequences. While seeking to corroborate allegations of the ritual
abuse of children by religious sects, such thesis should simultaneously attempt to
identify alternative explanations for these human behaviours that seemingly defy
rationality. Within an enterprise shrouded in secrecy or ‘freemasonry syndrome’, and
on which comprehensive research is virtually non-existent, social workers, legal
professionals, law enforcements officers and relevant pro children organisations are
frustrated and confused in frontline practices when confronted with cases involving
the ritual abuse of children by religious sects. As such, any thesis on the ritual abuse
of children should be constructed to inform and guide relevant interventions by
professionals, especially childcare practitioners (social workers) who are in the front
line when the ritual abuse of children is uncovered and are expected to support the
victims and their families with little or no guidance. Indeed, the need for such thesis
to serve as a field or frontline companion to social workers, their trainers and those
involve in the enforcement of children’s right and protection is long overdue.
To the victims and survivors of child ritual abuse, any sensitisation on the reality of
ritual abuse should henceforth dispel the legends that have hitherto shrouded the
horror of their experiences under the hands of ‘agencies’ mistakenly perceived as
comprehensively children-friendly.

The reality about child protection is that, the effective, efficient, adequate and
appropriate safeguarding of the welfare of children is only attainable if related actions
are underpinned by the dogma that, child protection belongs to each and every one
of us equally. Within the balance of probability, the increasing exposure of child
abuse by clergies is reason-enough to dispel the myth of religious integrity that
hitherto synonymised the church / religion with moral rectitude. Human beings are
inherently fallible; given reasons, purpose and circumstance; the human being is
comprehensively capable of behaviours and actions that ethically defy rationality.
Any objective approach in addressing the ritual abuse of children by fundamentalist
religion should be founded on the reality that, religion is not necessarily the panacea
for social deprivation neither is it the iconography for rectitude’

When I look at my small daughter Christie; vulnerable, comprehensively dependent

and yet as equally righted as Daddy, I wonder how and why anyone will be driven to
assault such sanctity of childhood.” Dr Ignatius Gwanmesia.

Comments to Dr Ignatius Gwanmesia antichildtraffic@yahoo.co.uk

Tel: 07951 622137 United Kingdom