Healthcare and Survivors of Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in Papua New Guinea with Ali Moloney

We confront the urgent reality of sorcery accusation-related violence (SARV) in Papua New Guinea with nursing educator Ali Moloney, who has spent six years helping to develop a national curriculum for community health workers and nurses across this culturally and geographically diverse country. Ali describes how accusations—most often against women (over 90%)—can follow illness, death, misfortune, or even drought. She details how large groups, often more than 100 perpetrators, escalate attacks marked by dehumanization, blindfolding, stripping, prolonged torture, and attempts to force confessions. Survivors face displacement, re-accusation, stigma, and danger for themselves and their children, compounded by limited roads, scarce resources, and barriers to police and medical access. Ali shares her three-year fight to integrate SARV response, referral pathways, and mental health education into PNG healthcare training, and calls for accountability, reporting violent online content, and sustained conversations to drive change.

Chapters

00:00 Meet Ali Moloney
01:21 Ali’s PNG Nursing Work
02:36 Papua New Guinea Context
03:53 Who Gets Accused
06:15 Mob Violence Patterns
07:51 Dehumanization Tactics
09:38 Barriers to Rescue
10:58 Beliefs and History
13:11 Life After Accusation
17:36 Survivors and Confessions
19:30 A Case Study
23:59 Gendered Violence Differences
25:07 Torture for Confession
29:21 Teaching SARV in Schools
32:00 Getting It Into Curriculum
33:18 Mental Health and Stigma
36:30 Research and Interviews
41:32 What Change Takes
44:32 How Listeners Can Help
47:04 Closing Reflections

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Healthcare and Survivors of Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in Papua New Guinea with Ali Moloney Download

sanguma sarv sorcery sorcery accusation-related violence

Healthcare and Survivors of Sorcery Accusation-Related Violence in Papua New Guinea with Ali Moloney

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