One organization that defends the trokosi system in ghana is the afrikania mission. The trokosi practice plays an important part in the rural justice system. Oct 29, 2018 until the trokosi system came to the attention of the general public in the 1990s, girls sent to the shrines stayed for life. Girls in west africa offered into sexual slavery as wives. Introduction it is widely believed that slavery no longer exists, but surprisingly it is. The trokosi is widely viewed as a form of slavery by most rea1. Trokosi practice in ghana the practice of trokosi is usually described studentshare our website is a unique platform where students can share their papers in a matter of giving an example of the work to be done. Click download or read online button to get the trokosi system book now. Indeed, this note argues that asylum protection should be extended to victims of trokosi slavery because such an extension is in accordance with u. The antislavery society has also succeeded in purchasing the freedom of over 500 slave girls. What tactics do civil society organisations in ghana employ in their struggle to liberate the victims of the trokosi practice in ghana, and what are the implications for human rights struggles. A person held in ritual servitude under this system.
Trokosi is practised in southeastern ghana, especially among the ewes, where girls and young women are sent to fetish shrines to live and atone for the crimes of their family members, mostly men. Conflicting discourses on the trokosi practice in ghana. Men poukisa yon prince harry deside abonde trone li pouyon vie privee avek madanm li meghan duration. Ghanas human rights commission and various ngos adopted. Since then, the ghanaian government and nongovernmental organizations ngos have waged an antitrokosi campaign, leading to an amendment to ghanas criminal code in 1998, criminalizing the trokosi practice and calling for the releasing of girls from the shrines. If abla is sent to the shrine she will become a trokosi, or a wife of the gods. This type of case study may, in turn, help to broaden our current understanding of this highlycontested terrain, the culture versus human rights debate, to inform human rights practice, observance, and advocacy. In ghana, the trokosi law has officially abolished the practice but this has not deterred adherents. Ritual servitude is a practice in ghana which also takes place in the neighbouring countries of togo, and benin where traditional religious shrines popularly called fetish shrines in ghana take human beings, usually young virgin girls, in payment for services, or in religious atonement for alleged misdeeds of a family member. The trokosi system download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
Part iv discusses some of the international documents that prohibit human rights violations like sexual slavery. Information and translations of trokosi in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions. Today, international needs help many of the liberated girls by providing education and vocational training. What role does civil society play in ghana with regard to the trokosi system to free the victims. The study analyzes trokosi, the keeping of virgin girls in a religious and cultural bondage in ghana. The item the trokosi system, by mark wisdom represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in boston university libraries.
The trokosi system is a traditional religious practice found in parts of ghana, benin and togo. Trokosi practice in ghana essay example topics and well. Occultism in africa the trokosi system read a free. Considered by opponents as outdated, apocalyptic, and outright human rights abuse, it is revered by adherents of the fetish system. Trokosi was brought to national and media attention in 1993 akyeampong 2001. People who support this pro trokosi argument say there are no human rights abuses going on at the shrines, and that trokosi is a practice that cannot and should not be eradicated in ghana. May 14, 2018 thousands of women across west africa have been enslaved by a centuries old practice called trokosi. Oct 07, 2010 it argues that although ghana has laws such as the 1992 constitution, a number of international human rights laws that ghana had ratified to protect the rights of women and children, and the criminal code amendment act, 1998, trokosi which discriminates against women and children is being practiced in the country. Virgin wives of the fetish gods ghanas trokosi tradition. Girls in west africa offered into sexual slavery as wives of. Girls are forced to live and work with priests in religious shrines, for the rest of their lives, to pay for the sins of family members. Virgin wives of the fetish gods ghana s trokosi tradition. Aug, 2018 thousands of women across west africa have been enslaved by a centuries old practice called trokosi.
Oct 31, 2009 one organization that defends the trokosi system in ghana is the afrikania mission. According to gillard 2010, trokosi is a pious practice amid sections of the west african inhabitants, especially in sections of the contemporary ghana and togo. Ghana s human rights commission and various ngos adopted. Information and translations of trokosi in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. In ghana and in togo it is practiced by the ewe tribe in the volta region. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Ritual servitude is a practice in ghana, togo, and benin where traditional religious shrines popularly called fetish shrines in ghana take human beings, usually young virgin girls, in payment for services, or in religious atonement for alleged misdeeds of a family member. Trokosi practice still popular in ghanaresearch xfm 95. Trokosi plural trokosis or trokosi the practice of ritual servitude in parts of africa. People who do not understand the trokosi system feel it is a servitude, but it is a. The trokosi system of child slavery and the role of cultural. The term trokosi is commonly used in english in ghana, as a loanword. The misdeeds for which atonement is sought may often date back generations.
In 2001, national geographic writers and photographers working with the charity, free the slaves, travelled the world to report on slavery in. Although the practice has officially been banned in ghana, its still happening there. Yvette turlings, modernday slavery in ghana, radio netherlands, 12 may 2003. In its view, the practice of trokosi must be preserved. The number of trokosi in togo and benin has never been counted, but we know there are a substantial number. Jul 18, 2014 in a more recent article, asamoahgyadu, j. The study uses qualitative approach and involves interviewing of key informants.
The most recent report of the special rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences on her mission to ghana, highlights the practice of offering daughters as trokosi to a traditional fetish shrine to ward off the punishment of the gods for crimes or moral wrongdoings committed by a family member. Oct 04, 20 virgin wives of the fetish gods ghanas trokosi tradition. Reconciling human rights and traditional practices. The word trokosi loosely translated from ewe, a dialect spoken in ghana, means slavery to the gods or deity. People who do not understand the trokosi system feel it is a servitude, but it is a blessing because that girl who comes to the. Aug 30, 2018 through the efforts of a private, nonprofit agency called international needs ghana, many shrines have now stopped the practice of trokosi and 2,900 women have been freed and rehabilitated.
Part v discusses ghana s constitution and its provisions that prohibit trokosi. Oct 31, 2017 the trokosi system of child slavery and the role of cultural relativism october 31, 2017 by carly gillingham leave a comment due to the current refugee crisis, more and more global human rights violations have recently been illuminated to the public. Click download or read online button to get trokosi book now. This paper evaluates the trokosi system, a traditional custom which evolved in the 17th century and is practised by the ewes, an ethnic group of people in the volta region of ghana. Trokosi is a practice in southeastern ghana where young virgin girls, typically from eight to fifteen years of age, are sent to fetish shrines to live and atone for the crimes. As of january 2012, a total of 3,300 trokosi had been released through the intervention of christians, thus freeing a total of 16,500 lives. Thousands of women across west africa have been enslaved by a centuries old practice called trokosi. Until the trokosi system came to the attention of the general public in the 1990s, girls sent to the shrines stayed for life. Trokosi practice in ghana name institution date religion and theology.
Nonetheless, thousands of girls and women keep suffering from the tragic impacts of slavery, discrimination, and abuse as a result of being a trokosi. The term trokosi is also used to refer to the young girl who has been enslaved under the trokosi system. In 1998, international needs ghana played an integral part in a campaign which led to the release of around 2,800 trokosi girls and the banning of the trokosi practice in ghana. When a crime is commited, the fetish priest consults the gods to ascertain which family has committed the crime. Tracing the origins of the system, spokesman osofo.
Part iii provides background information on the trokosi practice and describes experiences of some of the trokosi system. Girls are forced to live and work with priests in religious shrines, for the rest of. A trokosi is a young girl who has been enslaved under the trokosi system. Cultslavery in west africa a christian response 1996 6 trinity journal of church and theology 12, has shown that the osu cultslavery system shares several similarities with the trokosi system in ghana. Greene 1990, almost two hundred years after the british first passed legislation to abolish the atlantic slave trade, a nonprofit christian organization, international needs ghana, reported having discovered. Jul 06, 2008 trokosi practice still popular in ghanaresearch july 6, 2008 ghanavoices leave a comment go to comments a new research finding has revealed that the controversial trokosi system is still active in the country despite being outlawed in 1998.
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