Witchcraft and Human Rights Conference 2024

Massachusetts Witch Hunt Justice Project lead Joshua Hutchinson and End Witch Hunts president Sarah Jack spoke at the recent International Conference on Witchcraft and Human Rights, past, present and future: Implementing UN Resolution 47/8 in Lancaster, England. This conference was convened to discuss how to eliminate harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks, which are essentially contemporary witch-hunts where persons accused of witchcraft are subjected to violence, ostracism, banishment, or even death.

In Lancaster, Josh and Sarah spoke about the Project and other efforts being made in the United States to remember those who suffered under colonial witchcraft prosecutions. Other participants at the conference then stated that our efforts to clear the names of Massachusetts residents accused of witchcraft impact their efforts to eliminate harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks in their home countries. What the United States does resonates in other parts of the world. By recognizing that the witch trials of the past were grave injustices and by condemning witch-hunting then and now, we will send a strong and clear message that witch-hunting in any form is wrong.