Dr Leethen Bartholomew

Dr Leethen Bartholomew has worked in frontline social work for over 20 years and is a safeguarding expert specialising harmful practices. He previously worked as the Head of the National Female Genital Mutilation Centre in the UK and is a trustee of a two UK based charities working to end human rights abuses related to witchcraft accusations and related harmful practices and female genital mutilation. He works internationally as a trainer and consultant on safeguarding children. His PhD thesis examined witchcraft and spirit possession accusations against children and their non-accused sibling, what these accusations mean, their contexts and impacts, and the challenges for professional response.

His is the first research empirically to explore the experiences of non-accused as well as accused children, to do so from multiple participant perspectives, and to conceptualise the phenomenon through the combined lenses of critical realism, ecological and cultural anthropological theories. He is particularly interested in widening the focus to include the impact of accusations on non-accused siblings. His current work involves a joint project with UK based Medical Assistance Sierra Leone and Sierra Leone Association for People with Albinism on a project focused on improving the human rights of people with Albinism.