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Crimes of abuse linked to faith or belief from January 2021 to November 2024

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.24.041628

I note you seek access to the following information:

For context, this request is related to crimes of abuse linked to faith or belief as defined by the Metropolitan Police in the link below (the Met’s definition is specially about children whereas I am looking at cases involving children and/or adults) - MPS - Child Abuse - Faith Based Abuse

It states: "Abuse linked to faith or belief is where concerns for a (person’s) welfare have been identified, and could be caused by, a belief in witchcraft, spirit or demonic possession, ritual or satanic abuse features; or when practices linked to faith or belief are harmful to a (person)."

Abuse linked to faith or belief is also defined here in this government national action plan - National action plan to tackle child abuse linked to faith or belief.pdf

For each calendar year 2021, 2022, 2023 and for the period 1 January 2024 to 28 November 2024, please could you tell me:

  1. The number of cases of abuse linked to faith or belief (as defined above) that have been reported
  2. A brief description of each case and the outcome if known (i.e. arrest, charge, on bail, no further action, etc)
  3. The number of crime reports where the term "witch", or "witchcraft", or "demon", or "exorcism" is mentioned in the MO field of the crime report
  4. A brief description of each reported crime from your answer to question 3) and the outcome if known (i.e. arrest, charge, on bail, no further action, etc)

Redefined
I'm happy to proceed with questions 1 and 2 only for the crimes you've suggested - crimes flagged on CRISIS using the PV flag Abuse Linked to Faith & Belief, and crimes flagged on CONNECT (Level 2) = 569 Safeguarding - Abuse linked to Witchcraft & Spirit Possession Accusations.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

A concern that a crime or incident has some connection to Abuse Linked to Accusations of Witchcraft (ALWSPA) or Spirit Possession Accusations (also known as Child Abuse Linked to Faith or Belief) may result in a flags being placed on a police report.

This does not mean that an offence has taken place, only that there might be a ALWSPA risk or connection to either a crime, incident or intelligence.

Flagging/Tagging is an imprecise recording system as it relies on officers identifying features within an investigation linked to ALWSPA, knowing that the flag exists and remembering to use it.

It can also be used for officers to flag up a Safeguarding Risk to Partner Agencies and may not result in a charge but provide education and support via partnership work.