The Dark Side of Faith: How Britain Fails Its Most Vulnerable Children The UK's record on protecting its most vulnerable children from spiritual abuse is a symptom of a deeper problem.
Behind closed doors, thousands of British kids are subjected to terrifying ordeals in the name of witchcraft or possession, with only a handful of cases reported to police each year.
The statistics paint a disturbing picture: 2,180 known instances of abuse linked to spiritual possession or witchcraft in 2024, and over 1,300 calls to the National Association for People Abused in Childhood's helpline between 2016 and 2025 mentioning organised or ritualistic abuse.