Eurpean Witch Hunts of 1450-1750

¶ … Eurpean Witch hunts of 1450-1750 is NOT genocide.

Man has invented witchcraft from the early ages in order to find women as scapegoats for the deficiencies that society had at the time. The women considered to be witches were trialed and were condemned to death through burning in most cases. There are estimates of nearly fifty thousand women being burned alive after being accused of performing witchcraft during the 1450-1750 era. The killings have had all the attributes of a genocidal act. However, the mass murders committed are considered to be acts of gendercide because of the fact that almost all those that received a death sentence have been women.

Women have been harassed for their alleged inferiority even from the early centuries. The church often condemned lonely women of performing satanic rituals against the community. The fear of women is believed to be sexually determined with men visiting witches and asking them for help regarding their sexual problems. (Ellerbe)

The most reasonable reason for why the thousands that died during the witch hunt are believed to be victims of genocide is that the action is seen as the killing of pagans due to the fact that they did not follow the way of god. Apparently, it would be impossible to consider the witch hunts to be an act of genocide because it would be unrealistic to believe that men would consider the killing of every woman and thus it would not mean that the witch hunt would involve the extinction of all women.