Today, witches are the stuff of light-hearted kids books, cartoons and Halloween costumes. But there is a dark history behind their place in pop culture.
Around 2,500 people — mostly women — were executed in Scotland between 1563 and 1736 under the country’s Witchcraft Act.
Now, hundreds of years later, the Parliament of Scotland is doing something about it — starting with a public apology. The apology affirms the proper attitude to gender and the role of women in society.
