Mediation in Matters Involving Sorcery in PNG Villages and Remote Australian Indigenous Communities

Abstract

The article discusses the application of mediation to conflict involving sorcery and sorcery-related violence in Papua New Guinea (PNG) villages and remote Australian Indigenous communities. The article proposes that a Hybrid Mediation Approach to managing this form of conflict can be effective. This approach re-imagines the stages of mediation not as fixed or rigid steps but as design parameters that empower the parties through incorporating local values and traditions into the dispute management process. The hybrid element of the approach refers to the incorporation of local values and traditions into the mediation design. The article makes reference to specific examples of sorcery-related conflict at the remote Australian community of Aurukun and a village in PNG to provide a background to this discussion of effective mediation techniques.