The traditions of witchcraft span thousands of years and countless cultures, with each country viewing the women who claim to practice it in a different light. In the majority of the Western World, the practice of magic is now considered a whimsical pastime rather than a threat, but in many developing nations, accusations of witchcraft are taken seriously. Vulnerable people — children, the elderly, those with disabilities and, most predominantly, women — continuously suffer from religious superstition and as a result fall victim to serious human rights violations such as torture, public humiliation, forced homelessness and even murder. How are such barbaric treatments justified in this day and age, and what historical events have led to such strong public opposition to the notions of witchcraft?
In many modern nations, you may think it is otherworldly to sentence a person to death for attempting hocus pocus and necromancy — the stereotypes of witches are now linked to Halloween costumes and the make-believe world of Harry Potter. But even within our own territories in Scotland, the Witchcraft Act (in place from 1563 to 1736) meant at least 2,500 Scottish women were executed on suspicion of practising magic. As seen in the Washington Post, examples include an incident in Bo’ness in 1679 where six women were charged with meeting with the devil; they were subsequently strangled and burned at the stake. Many people thought that certain behaviours exhibited by women were considered ungodly — experimenting with then-modern medicine was akin to fraternising with the devil; they saw any strange new practices as a threat to their impressionable children; Paganism, which was once a strong part of British culture and folklore, was the root of all evil. It has taken hundreds of years since then for all so-called witches to be ‘forgiven’ — protests calling for their official pardon took place outside of parliament, encouraged by Scottish lawmaker Natalie Don who has proposed a bill to “recognise [those accused of witchcraft] as victims of a miscarriage of justice” (Francis, 2022). In March, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon granted an apology to those who suffered under the Witchcraft Act, citing the injustices were driven largely by prejudices, namely misogyny.
Perhaps the country most famous for criminalising the practice of magic is the US, with the state of Massachusetts famed for its Salem witch trials. Though the harsh sentence of being burned at the stake was much more common in Europe, prosecuted Americans faced equally bleak fates with public hangings, stonings or being left to simply rot in jail (Yani, 2022). However, in the centuries that followed, all those who were charged with witchcraft in the country have since been pardoned. The last woman accused of being a witch — Elizabeth Johnson Jr., who was just 22 at her execution — had her name cleared due to a middle school project in which teenagers forwarded a motion for her pardon to a State Senator. The bill was approved in June this year.
Unfortunately, not all countries and cultures are as open-minded, as religious superstition and sexism play a role in certain societies less willing to change. Adela Choc Cuz and her daughter Sandra Tec Choc were forcibly detained in a house in Guatemala, and for over 18 hours were beaten and starved on community suspicions of witchcraft. Choc Cuz takes the role of a spiritual guide in her home, performing cultural practices stemming from Mayan traditions and serving alongside others as ‘the guardians of the hills and the rivers’ (Comunitaria, 2022). More serious accusations arose when members of the Evangelical Church became involved, a religious subgroup comprising 42 percent of the country’s population. Guatemalan President, Alejandro Giammattei, backs his country’s strong links to its conservative faith, and the church has been a driving force for controversial laws on issues such as women’s reproductive health and unfair divisions between ethnic groups. Choc Cuz claimed that during her detention she was soaked in gasoline and threatened with beheading, and blamed COCODE (her community council) for endorsing superstitious beliefs. With help from representatives from the Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office and the National Civil Police, she and her daughter were released, but not before seeing all of their possessions burned.
Arguably the worst area of the world for false accusations of witchcraft is Africa. Hundreds of thousands of women and children across the continent are tortured and killed on suspicion of practising magic. While historically it has been women and the elderly disproportionately affected by such charges, children are starting to bear the consequences; they are made to drink traditional cleansing medicines, forced out of their homes, beaten and even executed (Skrdlik, 2022). It is often vulnerable children with disabilities or mental health issues that face such treatment, as they are isolated from the rest of their community and feared for being different. Close-knit families try to keep the neglect within their own community, as very few countries continue to criminalise the alleged magic practises. On a positive note, more and more legislations are being passed which help to tackle the issues of prejudice against women and certain ethnic groups in Africa. On a general scale, Uganda officially banned human sacrifice last year (Nyanyuki, 2022).
Accusations of witchcraft continue to destroy the lives of women around the world who already face immense hardships. When women’s rights extended far enough to grant us equal opportunities for education and work, the world proved that gender does not limit the broad range of roles a person can fit into; that religion and tradition do not have to box anyone into what is conventional and ‘appropriate’. Though these superstitions have been, for the most part, left in the past by Western countries, harmful traditions rooted in remote communities will prove hard to approach.
Figure 1: Woman riding a stereotypical witch’s broomstick, Euro News.
References
Comunitaria, P. (2022). ‘A Mayan spiritual guide accused of ‘witchcraft’ in Guatemala, later released’, Global Voices [online]. Translated by Teodora C. Hasegan. Available at: https://globalvoices.org/2022/06/15/a-mayan-spiritual-guide-accused-of-witchcraft-in-guatemala-later-released/amp/ (Accessed 17/07/22).
Francis, E. (2022). ‘Thousands of ‘witches’ could be posthumously pardoned in Scotland’, Washington Post [online]. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/23/witches-scotland-pardon-convictions/ (Accessed 17/07/22).
Nyanyuki, J. (2022). ‘Witch-hunts and ritual child abuse are a stain on Africa. We must confront them’, The Guardian [online]. Available at: https://amp.theguardian.com/global-development/commentisfree/2022/jun/08/witch-hunts-ritual-child-abuse-albinism-africa (Accessed 17/07/22).
Skrdlik, J. (2022). ‘Africa: Witchcraft Accusations Against Children Still Prevalent’, OCCRP [online]. Available at: https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/16417-africa-witchcraft-accusations-against-children-still-prevalent (Accessed 17/07/22).
Yani, M. (2022). ‘Last Salem “Witch” Pardoned Thanks To Middle Schoolers’, Lethbridge News Now [online]. Available at: https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2022/06/03/last-salem-witch-pardoned-thanks-to-middle-schoolers/ (Accessed 17/07/22).
Comments