What is Witch hunt?
[[Image:Schiltach Flugblatt.JPG|thumb|300px|1533 account of the [[execution]] of a witch charged with [[Arson|burning the town]] of [[Schiltach]] in 1531.]] A '''witch hunt''' is a search for [[witch]]es. Witch hunts often involve [[Moral panic|moral panics]] or [[mass hysteria]]. They were much more common in the past than they are today. Many different groups participated in witch hunts, including [[Christianity|Christians]]. == History == Witch hunts were most common in [[Europe]] from about 1480 [[Anno Domini|AD]] to 1700 AD, during the [[Protestant Reformation]] and the [[Thirty Years' War]]. Tens of thousands of “witches” were executed during this period. Around the same time, there were many witch hunts in [[United States of America|America]], such as the [[Salem Witch Trials]]. == Witch hunts today == Today, there are fewer witch hunts. Most countries no longer have laws against witches. Most witch hunts today happen in South America, Southeast Asia, and Africa. Societies where witch hunts happen have a strong belief in [[magic]]. In many cases, these are instances of [[lynching]], and burning a person. Witch hunts are regularly reported from much of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]], from [[Saudi Arabia]] and from [[Papua New Guinea]]. The [[UNHCR]] say that such witch hunts usually are a massive violation of [[human rights]]. Most of the accused are women and children but can also be elderly people or marginalised groups of the community such as [[Albino|albinos]] and the [[HIV]]-infected.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendocPDFViewer.html?docid=4981ca712|title=UNHCR Research Paper No. 169 Witchcraft allegations, refugee protection and human rights: a review of the evidence, January 2009|author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|work=UNHCR}}</ref> These victims are often considered burdens to the community. As as a result they are often driven out, [[Starvation|starved to death]], or killed violently, sometimes by their own families in acts of [[social cleansi