traffickers perform ritualised, often violent ceremonies in
order to subjugate and silence victims through the threat
of their destruction, or that of their loved ones by malign
spirits. This has a profound effect upon victims and is a major challenge to successful therapeutic treatment. Victims
of Juju trafficking are often subjected to very high levels
of physical control, abuse and violence throughout their
trafficking experience, but are in any case psychologically
entrapped and overwhelmed.
A West African woman subjected to a Juju ritual before
being trafficked for sexual exploitation
The trafficker took Eliza to a house. There were several men
in the room, wearing orange clothes. She was told to go to
the bathroom and change. They took her clothes, including
her underwear. Then they took samples of her pubic hair
and nails. They removed some blood from her arm (She
indicated a scar on her arm at this point which she said was
where they took the blood from.) The men then showed
her a mirror in which she believes that her image appeared
even though she was not looking directly at it. She was told
that she had to keep everything secret, and never run away.
They said they would know if she tried to run away as the
mirror showed them what she was doing. The hair samples
meant that if she ran away she would go mad. The blood
sample meant that she would bleed to death.
BBC
News
Breaking the spell of Juju
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