From witch hunts to femicide

Around the turn of the millennium, violence against women - both relational and institutional - intensified worldwide. In several countries - for example, in Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia - witch hunts reappeared and claimed tens of thousands of victims. To what extent do these motives and the European witch hunts of the 16th and 17th centuries have in common? In her analysis, Silvia Federici highlights the transformation of land ownership relations as the root cause. The land privatization taking place in African countries subject to the International Monetary Fund's structural adjustment program is associated with a radical rearrangement of social priorities, norms, and values, just as the land enclosures in England once did. Women are the main losers in this rearrangement.