Witchcraft Accusation Across Societies

One classic anthropological study showed such accusations function as a coherent social logic for a community rather than as simple irrational error. This is not only historical: humanitarian organisations have documented real, ongoing child-witch accusations in various parts of the world since around 2010, making this a living issue with real present-day victims, not only a subject for history.

E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande (1937); contemporary child-witch accusation documentation from aid agencies, from c. 2010