New light on a dark past - 25th February 2022

Witches are famous for magic, but they aren't real. People used to think they were, and in Scotland, 2,500 women were killed. Now, Witches of Scotland wants the government to apologise.

A 1563 Scottish law punished witches with death. People put pins in women and looked for 'witch marks'. They decided the women were guilty and burned them, which stopped them coming back to life.

Lawyer Claire Mitchell runs Witches of Scotland.

Claire Mitchell: The way that women were killed as witches was by strangulation and then by burning. So, the mosaic denotes the fact that she was burnt as a witch to get rid of her ashes. There was a belief that if you didn't get rid of every part of a witch, that they might 'revenant', rev, coming from the French 'revenir', to return."

Women were usually poor and couldn't argue against the law. Women were seen as weak. People thought the devil controlled women more easily than men.

Zoe Venditozzi manages Witches of Scotland's podcast.

Zoe Venditozzi: "They really felt they were operating in a world in which the devil was out to get them. And that women were weak vessels basically, who the devil could act through. So that's why women tended to get accused, because women were seen as being somebody that the devil could manipulate easily. Whereas men could withstand, you know, the devil's advances."

Witches of Scotland wants the government to cancel the women's crimes and make an official apology.

Even today, women are killed as witches. In some countries, people are trying to pass laws against witches.

Zoe Venditozzi: "We feel that it was an absolutely terrible thing that happened in Scotland's history. It was a miscarriage of justice and unfortunately it's not a finished with issue. There are still people across the world, generally vulnerable, often women or old people, that are being accused of witchcraft and in some cases being killed by mob justice. And in fact there are some countries that are trying to put it into their legal system where people can still be accused of witchcraft. So we don't think that it's an issue that's past. It's still sadly very, very relevant."