Witchcraft

===Modern witch-hunts===
{{main|Witch-hunt|Witch trials in the early modern period|Modern witch-hunts}}

Witch-hunts, scapegoating, and the [[shunning]] or [[murder]] of suspected witches still occurs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pearlman |first=Jonathan |date=11 April 2013 |title=Papua New Guinea urged to halt witchcraft violence after latest 'sorcery' case |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |publisher=[[Telegraph Media Group]] |location=London, England |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/papuanewguinea/9987294/Papua-New-Guinea-urged-to-halt-witchcraft-violence-after-latest-sorcery-case.html |access-date=5 April 2018 |archive-date=11 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211174243/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/papuanewguinea/9987294/Papua-New-Guinea-urged-to-halt-witchcraft-violence-after-latest-sorcery-case.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Many cultures worldwide continue to have a belief in the concept of "witchcraft" or malevolent magic.{{r|AnkarlooClark}} 
Apart from [[Extrajudicial punishment|extrajudicial violence]], state-sanctioned violence also occurs in some jurisdictions. For instance, in [[Saudi Arabia]] practicing witchcraft and sorcery is a crime [[punishable by death]] and the country has executed people for this crime in 2011, 2012 and 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Saudi woman beheaded for 'witchcraft and sorcery' |date=13 December 2011 |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/13/world/meast/saudi-arabia-beheading/ |access-date=2014-06-07 |publisher=Edition.cnn.com |archive-date=2020-05-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200521231628/https://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/13/world/meast/saudi-arabia-beheading/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-06-19 |title= Saudi man executed for 'witchcraft and sorcery' |work=BBC News |publisher=Bbc.com |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18503550 |access-date=2014-06-07 |archive-date=2019-05-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530091343/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18503550 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="di Giovanni">{{Cite news |last=di Giovanni |first=Janine |date=14 October 2014 |title=When It Comes to Beheadings, ISIS Has Nothing Over Saudi Arabia |work=Newsweek |url=http://www.newsweek.com/2014/10/24/when-it-comes-beheadings-isis-has-nothing-over-saudi-arabia-277385.html |access-date=17 October 2014 |archive-date=16 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141016223514/http://www.newsweek.com/2014/10/24/when-it-comes-beheadings-isis-has-nothing-over-saudi-arabia-277385.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Witchcraft-related violence is often discussed as a serious issue in the broader context of [[violence against women]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013 |title=A Global Issue that Demands Action |url=http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/Co-publications/Femicide_A%20Gobal%20Issue%20that%20demands%20Action.pdf |access-date=2014-06-07 |publisher=the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Vienna Liaison Office |archive-date=2014-06-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140630215522/http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/Co-publications/Femicide_A%20Gobal%20Issue%20that%20demands%20Action.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Diwan |first=Mohammed |date=1 July 2004 |title=Conflict between State Legal Norms and Norms Underlying Popular Beliefs: Witchcraft in Africa as a Case Study |url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djcil/vol14/iss2/5/ |journal=Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=351–388 |access-date=28 March 2021 |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225231102/https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/djcil/vol14/iss2/5/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |date= 2009 |title=Witch Hunts in Modern South Africa: An Under-represented Facet of Gender-based Violence |url=http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/witchhunts.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425074549/http://www.mrc.ac.za/crime/witchhunts.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-25 |access-date=2014-06-07 |publisher=MRC-UNISA Crime, Violence and Injury Lead Programm |citeseerx=10.1.1.694.6630}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nepal: Witchcraft as a Superstition and a form of violence against women in Nepal |url=http://www.humanrights.asia/opinions/columns/AHRC-ETC-056-2011 |access-date=2014-06-07 |website=Humanrights.asia |publisher=Asian Human Rights Commission |archive-date=2014-06-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625033851/http://www.humanrights.asia/opinions/columns/AHRC-ETC-056-2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adinkrah |first=Mensah |date=April 2004 |title=Witchcraft Accusations and Female Homicide Victimization in Contemporary Ghana |journal=Violence Against Women |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=325–356 |doi=10.1177/1077801204263419 |s2cid=146650565}}</ref> In Tanzania, an estimated 500 older women are murdered each year following accusations of witchcraft or accusations of being a witch, according to a 2014 [[World Health Organization]] report.<ref>{{Cite web |title=World Report on Violence and Health |url=https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/en/chap5.pdf |access-date=2014-06-07 |publisher=[[World Health Organization]] |archive-date=2014-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140124045330/http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/global_campaign/en/chap5.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Children who live in some regions of the world, such as parts of Africa, are also vulnerable to violence that is related to witchcraft accusations.<ref>Bussien, Nathaly et al. 2011. Breaking the spell: Responding to witchcraft accusations against children, in New Issues in refugee Research (197). Geneva, Switzerland: UNHCR</ref><ref>Cimpric, Aleksandra 2010. Children accused of witchcraft, An anthropological study of contemporary practices in Africa. Dakar, Senegal: UNICEF WCARO</ref><ref>Molina, Javier Aguilar 2006. "The Invention of Child Witches in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Social cleansing, religious commerce and the difficulties of being a parent in an urban culture". London: Save the Children</ref><ref>Human Rights Watch 2006. Children in the DRC. Human Rights Watch report, 18 (2)</ref> Such incidents have also occurred in immigrant communities in the UK, including the much publicized case of the [[murder of Victoria Climbié]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-03-05 |title=Witchcraft murder: Couple jailed for Kristy Bamu killing |work=BBC News |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17255470 |access-date=2014-06-08 |archive-date=2014-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408060045/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17255470 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Dangerfield |first=Andy |date=2012-03-01 |title=Government urged to tackle 'witchcraft belief' child abuse |work=BBC News |publisher=Bbc.co.uk |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17006924 |access-date=2014-06-08 |archive-date=2014-10-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141008203907/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-17006924 |url-status=live }}</ref>