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World Day Against Witch Hunts: Missio in Papua New Guinea with Sister Lorena Jenal and Jörg Nowak

August 7

54 mins

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Episode Description

World Day Against Witch Hunts: Sister Lorena Jenal and Jörg Nowak on Rescuing Survivors in Papua New Guinea

Hosts Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack mark August 10, World Day Against Witch Hunts, with its creators, Sister Lorena Jenal and journalist Jörg Nowak of the German Catholic aid organization Missio. Sr. Lorena, a Swiss Franciscan who has served 47 years in Papua New Guinea, has rescued more than 420 women accused of sorcery since 2012 and shelters survivors at the House of Hope, built using her International Weimar Award for Human Rights. Nowak describes how Missio recognized sorcery accusation-related violence as a current human rights violation, expanded support to projects in countries including Liberia, Tanzania, Ghana, Benin, and documented abuses through reporting and museum exhibitions. They discuss the scale in PNG (109 cases last year), an estimate of 3,000 killings over 20 years, patterns of scapegoating and misogyny, severe sexual violence and public humiliation, police corruption and inaction, and advocacy efforts to elevate August 10 to a United Nations-recognized day.

00:00 World Day Against Witch Hunts

01:37 Meet Lorena and Jörg

03:10 Missio Campaign Origins

05:38 Papua New Guinea Crisis

11:40 Who Gets Accused

20:21 Sexual Violence Research

29:06 Police Corruption and Justice

35:15 Creating August 10

43:48 House of Hope Sanctuary

46:20 UN Recognition Push

52:20 How You Can Help

53:57 Final Thanks and Share