Apparently, it’s 1692. Or it might as well be, according to human rights experts, who report that the murder and persecution of women and children accused of being witches is spreading around the world. Killings and violence against alleged witch women – often elderly – are becoming common in events in countries ranging from India to South Africa. Children suspected of witchcraft are usually kicked out by their families and communities, and forced into homelessness; however, they are increasingly being killed because the families/communities fear the authorities will force them to take them back, upon identification.
U.N. officals tracking the problem said deaths run into at least tens of thousands, and beatings, deprivation of property and banishment/isolation from community life drives the number of victims into millions. The usual causes of poverty and the economic crisis were identified as the culprits of this epidemic, leading (frustrated) people to find scapegoats for their misfortunes and illnesses in children and women, but methinks factors like religious teachings and patriarchal/misogynist tendencies are pretty influential as well. [Reuters]
