Religious persecution means unfair treatment of a particular group of people because of their religion. It aims at forcing the religious to go away or give up their religion. "Persecution" comes from a Latin word meaning "chase", and usually meant chasing someone in order to kill them. In later centuries the term was applied to other actions. Religious persecution may occur in the following forms:

• violence, including pogroms
• social discrimination
• not giving a job to a person because of his religion