Editing Witch hunt (section)

====Papua New Guinea====
{{Main|Witch-hunts in Papua New Guinea}}
Though the practice of "white" magic (such as [[faith healing]]) is legal in Papua New Guinea, the 1976 Sorcery Act imposed a penalty of up to 2 years in prison for the practice of [[black magic|"black" magic]], until the Act was repealed in 2013. In 2009, the government reports that extrajudicial torture and murder of alleged witches – usually lone women – are spreading from the highland areas to cities as villagers migrate to urban areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/unreported-world/episode-guide/series-2009/episode-9 |title=Unreported World |work=Channel 4}}</ref> For example, in June&nbsp;2013, four women were accused of witchcraft because the family "had a 'permanent house' made of wood, and the family had tertiary educations and high social standing". All of the women were tortured and Helen Rumbali was beheaded. Helen Hakena, chairwoman of the North Bougainville Human Rights Committee, said that the accusations started because of economic jealousy born of a mining boom.<ref name="2013 witch burning in New Guinea">{{cite news |author=McGuirk, Rod |date=10 June 2013 |title=Witch hunts in Papua New Guinea linked to jealousy |url=https://news.yahoo.com/witch-hunts-papua-guinea-linked-jealousy-054301668.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517051035/https://news.yahoo.com/witch-hunts-papua-guinea-linked-jealousy-054301668.html |archive-date=17 May 2021 |access-date=10 June 2013 |work= |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

Reports by U.N. agencies, Amnesty International, Oxfam and anthropologists show that "attacks on accused sorcerers and witches – sometimes men, but most commonly women – are frequent, ferocious and often fatal."<ref name="Chandler">{{cite web |url=http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/its-2013-and-theyre-burning-witches/558/ |title=It's 2013, and they're burning 'witches' |author-link=Jo Chandler |author=Chandler, Jo |newspaper=The Global Mail |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002115725/http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/its-2013-and-theyre-burning-witches/558/ |archive-date=2 October 2013 |date=2017-10-24}}</ref> It's estimated about 150 cases of violence and killings are occurring each year in just the province of Simbu in Papua New Guinea alone.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gibbs |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Gibbs |year=2012 |title=Engendered Violence and Witch-killing in Simbu |journal=Engendering Violence in Papua New Guinea |pages=107–136 |jstor=j.ctt24hcwt.10 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=9781921862854}}</ref> Reports indicate this practice of witch-hunting has in some places evolved into "something more malignant, sadistic and voyeuristic."<ref name="Chandler"/> One woman who was attacked by young men from a nearby village "had her genitals burned and fused beyond functional repair by the repeated intrusions of red-hot irons."<ref name="Chandler"/> Few incidents are ever reported, according to the 2012 Law Reform Commission which concluded that they have increased since the 1980s.