Advocacy for Alleged Witches

Safe Child Africa is proud to support Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW).

Dr. Leo Igwe, Founder & CEO of AfAW

Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AfAW) works and campaigns to defend the rights and dignity of alleged witches and end all forms of human rights abuses linked to witchcraft allegations, both in Nigeria and other African countries. AfAW uses a secular, humanist, skeptical and human rights approach to examine witchcraft narratives and address related abuses.

Dr Igwe, Founder and CEO of AfAW, is a board member of the Humanist Association of Nigeria and of Humanists International. He holds a masters in philosophy and a doctoral degree in religious studies from the University of Bayreuth in Germany and wrote his doctoral thesis on witchcraft accusations in Northern Ghana.

Dr. Igwe has written and campaigned extensively about witchcraft accusations and he, like our own SCA founder, has faced threats, legal challenges and worse due to his championing of innocent people, including children, who stand accused of witchcraft.

What is the history of our working together? Why does it matter?

Safe Child Africa provides funding, support and capacity building to enable AfAW to EDIT IMAGES AND INFO BELOW:

  • Rescuing Children at Risk

    Rescuing vulnerable and stigmatized children. This critical first step is often necessary to keep the children alive.

  • Safety and Rehabilitation

    Our emergency children’s shelter provides a safe place for children to stay whilst we assess their needs and how best to address them.

  • Counselling and Support

    All children are provided with counselling and medical support by a trained professional.

  • Family Reunification and Fostering

    Every effort is made to reunite children with their families. In cases where this is not possible, we find foster carers for the children via our foster care network.

  • Pro-bono Legal Representation and Advocacy

    We properly document all cases of child abuse and file legal suits at the appropriate courts at no costs to the victims. We have won lots of these cases, including many on child rape, which are notoriously difficult to prosecute and child witchcraft accusations.

  • National and international advocacy

    Our work to advocate for the rights of the most vulnerable children has led to laws, such as the Akwa Ibom and Cross River Child Rights laws being enacted and including legislation criminalising the act of branding children as witches.

What are we doing together now?

A bit about the photo, left from report April 2025

AfAW is now halfway through their Decade of Activism against Witch Persecution in Africa: 2020-2030. The main objective of this initiative is to create a witch hunting free Africa by sensitizing Africans on witch hunting and spearheading the advocacy for alleged witches in Africa.

You can find out more and support this by following AfAW’s website, or Facebook Group, or make a donation below to enable us to continue supporting their work into the future.