[[Image:Persecution of witches.jpg|thumb|200px|right|女巫的火刑]]
[[Image:Persecution of witches.jpg|thumb|200px|right|女巫的火刑]]
[[Image:Wickiana5.jpg|thumb|220px|在[[瑞士]][[巴登 (瑞士)|巴登]]三名巫師被處以[[火刑]],由[[:de:Johann Jakob Wick|Johann Jakob Wick]]收集在[[Wickiana]]集中,1585年]]
[[Image:Wickiana5.jpg|thumb|220px|在[[瑞士]][[巴登 (瑞士)|巴登]]三名「巫師」被處以[[火刑]],由{{tsl|de|Johann Jakob Wick|Johann Jakob Wick}}收集在[[Wickiana]]集中,1585年]]
'''獵巫'''或'''女巫清洗'''是尋找被貼上[[巫|女巫]][[標籤理論|標籤]]的人或尋找[[巫術]]的[[證據]]。 近代早期歐洲和美洲殖民地獵巫的經典時期發生在近代早期或大約 1450 年至 1750 年,跨越了[[宗教改革]]和[[三十年戰爭]]的劇變,估計有 35,000 至 50,000 人被處決。<ref>Russell, Jeffrey Burton; Lewis, Ioan M. (2000). "Witchcraft". ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved 27 August 2021.</ref><ref>Levack, Brian P. (1987). ''The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe''. p. 21.</ref><ref>Levack, Brian P. (2006). ''The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe'' (3rd ed.). p. 23. ISBN <bdi>9780582419018</bdi>.</ref><ref>Monter, William (2002). "Witch Trials in Continental Europe". In Ankarloo, Bengst; Clark, Stuart (eds.). ''Witchcraft and Magic in Europe''. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 12 ff. ISBN <bdi>0-8122-1787-X</bdi>.</ref><ref>Golden, Richard M. (1997). "Satan in Europe: The Geography of Witch Hunts". In Wolfe, Michael (ed.). ''Changing Identities in Early Modern France''. Duke University Press. p. 234.</ref> 歐洲最後一次處決被定為女巫的人是在18世紀,此後因歐洲啟蒙主義流行、文明化乃至冷戰後的民主化,歐洲各國人民對女巫的接受程度明顯增加直至今日,現今甚至有不少歐洲人認為女巫形象是漂亮。不過即使現今21世紀,在[[撒哈拉以南非洲]]、[[巴布亞新幾內亞]]、[[拉丁美洲]]等部分經濟落後的國家或地區被報告有少量獵巫行動<ref>{{Internetquelle|autor=Marissa Fessenden|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-do-witch-hunts-still-happen-180957106/|titel=Why Do Witch Hunts Still Happen?|werk=Smithsonian.com|datum=2015-10-30|abruf=2018-04-12|sprache=en}} {{Wayback|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-do-witch-hunts-still-happen-180957106/ |date=20230403174352 }}</ref>,而[[沙特阿拉伯]]和[[喀麥隆]]至今仍存在反對巫術的官方立法。
在當前的語言中,“獵巫”[[比喻]]是指通常在大張旗鼓下進行的調查,據稱是為了揭露[[舉事|顛覆]]活動、不忠等行為,但真正的目的是恐嚇政治對手。<ref>"witch hunt". ''New Dictionary of the American Language''. Simon & Schuster. p. 1633.</ref> 它還可能涉及[[道德恐慌]]<ref>Goode, Erich; Ben-Yehuda, Nachman (2010). ''Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance''. Wiley. p. 195. ISBN <bdi>9781444307931</bdi>.</ref>或[[集體歇斯底里]]<ref>Martin, Lois (2010). ''A Brief History of Witchcraft''. Running Press. p. 5. ISBN <bdi>9780762439898</bdi>.</ref>等因素。
對巫術的信仰在世界各地都顯示出相似性。它提出了一個框架來解釋如疾病或死亡等隨機不幸的發生,而巫婆巫師則提供了邪惡的形象。<ref>Jean Sybil La Fontaine, ''Speak of the devil: tales of satanic abuse in contemporary England'', Cambridge University Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-521-62934-8, pp. 34–37.</ref>地理和文化上相對分離的社會([[歐洲]]、[[非洲]]、[[印度]]、[[新幾內亞]])普遍存在獵巫行為,這一點自1960年以來已引發了[[人类学]]背景下對該行為的關注。對[[魔法]]和[[占卜]]的信仰,以及用魔法影響個人幸福的嘗試(增加壽命,贏得愛情等等)都是人類文化的共通之處。現代地理大發現時代的早期收集的關於[[美洲]]、[[亞洲]]和[[非洲]][[土著]]人行為的報告顯示,不衹是巫術信仰,獵巫行為的週期性爆發也是人類文化的普遍性。<ref>Behringer (2004), 50.</ref>
獵巫在現代仍有發生,其多發於無知或未教育的人,與世隔離,過著傳統生活型態的人可能會指控某人為女巫。但今日此詞多用於搜索誤導或潛在的敵人(如色情業者、[[次文化]]族群和異見份子),就如歷史上的獵巫一般以[[歇斯底里]]、成見和不公正對待被指控的人。一項研究發現,巫術信仰與下列反社會的態度相關:較低的信任水平、慈善捐助和群體參與。<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Witchcraft Beliefs and the Erosion of Social Capital: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa and Beyond|url = http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387815001315|journal = Journal of Development Economics|doi = 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2015.11.005|first = Boris|last = Gershman|access-date = 2016-06-01|archive-date = 2018-09-26|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180926122230/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304387815001315|dead-url = no}}</ref>另一項研究發現,收入衝擊(由于極端降雨)導致了[[坦桑尼亞]]「女巫」的謀殺案大幅增加。<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Poverty and Witch Killing|url = http://restud.oxfordjournals.org/content/72/4/1153|journal = The Review of Economic Studies|date = 2005-10-01|issn = 0034-6527|pages = 1153–1172|volume = 72|issue = 4|doi = 10.1111/0034-6527.00365|first = Edward|last = Miguel|access-date = 2016-06-01|archive-date = 2016-05-13|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160513193010/http://restud.oxfordjournals.org/content/72/4/1153|dead-url = no}}</ref>
^Russell, Jeffrey Burton; Lewis, Ioan M. (2000). "Witchcraft". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
^Levack, Brian P. (1987). The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe. p. 21.
^Levack, Brian P. (2006). The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe (3rd ed.). p. 23. ISBN 9780582419018.
^Monter, William (2002). "Witch Trials in Continental Europe". In Ankarloo, Bengst; Clark, Stuart (eds.). Witchcraft and Magic in Europe. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 12 ff. ISBN 0-8122-1787-X.
^Golden, Richard M. (1997). "Satan in Europe: The Geography of Witch Hunts". In Wolfe, Michael (ed.). Changing Identities in Early Modern France. Duke University Press. p. 234.
^"witch hunt". New Dictionary of the American Language. Simon & Schuster. p. 1633.
^Goode, Erich; Ben-Yehuda, Nachman (2010). Moral Panics: The Social Construction of Deviance. Wiley. p. 195. ISBN 9781444307931.
^Martin, Lois (2010). A Brief History of Witchcraft. Running Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780762439898.
^Jean Sybil La Fontaine, Speak of the devil: tales of satanic abuse in contemporary England, Cambridge University Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0-521-62934-8, pp. 34–37.