Victims Of Witch-Hunting And Superstition
- IJLLR Journal
- 1 minute ago
- 2 min read
Pooja S, The Tamilnadu Dr Ambedkar Law University, Chennai
INTRODUCTION:
Despite being thought of as a legacy of the Middle Ages, witch-hunting is still a widespread and terrible type of violence in many regions of the world. Superstition, patriarchy, economic exploitation, social isolation, and the use of fear are still its fundamental causes. Witch-hunting is one of the most obvious examples of how vulnerable people are criminalised, stigmatised, and viciously punished in modern victimology because of cultural preconceptions and collective beliefs that have endured for generations.
While there were witch trials in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the current burden of witch-hunting has mostly moved to regions of Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and some portions of Oceania. Hundreds of attacks, killings, forced relocations, and sexual assaults connected to witch branding are still reported annually, especially in India. The majority of victims are women, particularly widows, older women, Dalit or Adivasi women, women involved in property disputes, and women who question patriarchal standards.
The academic field of victimology aims to comprehend the causes, experiences, vulnerabilities, and rehabilitation requirements of victims. In the context of witch-hunting, it also examines how legal systems, political institutions, and societal structures frequently fail to protect victims, giving offenders carte blanche. Witch-hunting is a complicated crime that interacts with caste hierarchy, gender discrimination, superstition, low literacy, economic inequality, lack of healthcare, ineffective policing, and political manipulation. It is not only a cultural anomaly.
One of the most enduring types of violence against vulnerable people in many countries is witch hunting, which has its roots in superstition, fear, and a well-entrenched social hierarchy. Witch hunting is still a terrible reality in many parts of the modern globe, including India, Sub-Saharan Africa, Papua New Guinea, and parts of Latin America, despite being often believed to be an old or medieval practice. Belief systems, gender inequity, economic hardship, cultural fears, and power dynamics within the community are all intricately intertwined in this occurrence.
