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Traditional Religion, Social Structure, and Children’s Rights in Ghana: The Making of a Trokosi Child
Abstract
The troxovi system lies at the interface of traditional religion, social structure, and social/crime control; hence, one cannot fully understand the system without also understanding these factors. Trokosis children, mostly female virgins, are made to atone for the crimes of family members. The human rights violations of this practice are numerous and include violation of both national and international legal instruments such as the Ghanaian Criminal Code, the Children’s Act, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 19(2), 51–72, 2004; Pan-African Issues in Crime and Justice, pp. 23–39, 2004; Indiana International and Comparative Law Review, 9(2), 457–504, 1999). The primary objective of this chapter is to show how Ewe traditional religion and social structure produced and sustained the troxovi system for more than 300 years. It is hoped that in doing this, both children’s rights scholars and practitioners occupied with addressing the “trokosi problem” (Canadian Journal of Law and Society, 19(2), 51–72, 2004) would have a better understanding of the complexities of the problem they are dealing with. Another benefit of this work is to help refocus attention on transforming the practice rather than the current focus on demonizing Ewes, which could be counterproductive.
... Ritual servitude/enslavement is a practice in some parts of Ghana, Togo, Benin, and Nigeria, where young girls, usually virgins, are sent to traditional religious shrines (also known as fetish shrines) to serve as slaves and wives of the gods (Ababio, 1996(Ababio, -2000Ameh, 2001Ameh, , 2004Ben-Ari, 2001;Bilyeu, 1999;Botchway, 2008;Codd, 2013). This practice, as Bilyeu (1999), Botchway (2008), Codd (2013), Rouster (2005Rouster ( , 2008, and other academics note, is based on two main superstitious beliefs: (1) that certain crimes committed by individuals do not only anger the gods but also bring misfortunes to the offenders' families or the entire community, and the only way of appeasing the gods and averting the calamity is to give a virgin girl to the shrine as a kind of "living sacrifice;" and (2) that certain fortunes or pleasant occurrences in people's lives, families, or the community (such as childbirth, wealth, healing, rainfall, bountiful harvest, etc.) are engineered by the gods, and one most acceptable way of thanking or paying them for the benevolent services/gesture is to send a young girl to the shrine to serve them (the gods/deities) (Akyeampong, 2001a;Ameh, 2013;Rouster, 2005). The former notion is at the heart of a belief system called trokosi, and the latter forms part of a practice called fiasidi (Greene, 1996(Greene, , 2009Akyeampong, 2001aAkyeampong, , 2001bAmeh, 2001Ameh, , 2011. ...
... The Ewe people, like many ethnic groups in Africa, have always held the notion that there is no smoke without fire; thus, every occurrence has a cause. For this reason, whenever there is a run of bad luck, disease, or a series of unexplained deaths in a family or the community, efforts are made to establish the cause and to find a remedy (Ameh, 2011(Ameh, , 2013Abotchie, 1997;Bilyeu, 1999;Greene, 2009). As some of the interviewees explained, the process of discerning the cause of misfortunes is usually conducted by fetish priests either voluntarily or following a request from the afflicted individual, family, or elders of the affected community. ...
... It is apparent that Quashigah (1998Quashigah ( , 1999 and other academics are either confusing trokosi with fiasidi, two seemingly identical but quite different religious practices with distinct originations, features, and historical developments (see Akyeampong, 2001aAkyeampong, , 2001bAmeh, 2001Ameh, , 2013Greene, 1996), or mistakenly using the two practices interchangeably as some other academics and commentators do. Fiasidis, as Greene (1996) and Ameh (2001Ameh ( , 2004Ameh ( , 2013 explain, are initiates of the Nyigbla and Yewe (two of the most powerful gods of the Anlo people) religious orders in the Anlo-Ewe society, who are voluntarily given by their families or freely choose to serve in the shrines (Greene, 1996;Ameh, 2001Ameh, , 2013. ...
Trokosi is a religious practice in some parts of West Africa where young virgin girls are sent to fetish shrines to become sex slaves as part of rituals meant to prevent a communal calamity supposedly provoked by the transgressions of members of the girls’ family. This study offers additional insight into the concept, origins, evolution, and practice of trokosi, highlighting the cultural, socio-economic, and legal contexts of this practice in Ghana. This goal is achieved by reviewing pertinent literature and interviewing 10 participants: academics; activists; traditional leaders; and ordinary community members. The study establishes that trokosi, which is viewed by adherents as a religious practice and crime prevention mechanism, is a severe violation of girls’ fundamental rights. It is the epitome of sexual violence against young females and the worst form of child enslavement, discrimination, oppression, and physical and psychological torture in the south-eastern part of Ghana. It notes that even though the practice has been outlawed, it still thrives due largely to illiteracy, ineffective enforcement mechanisms, and lack of political will on the part of the government. It suggests that the ills of the trokosi system can be suppressed not through legislative actions alone but through a multi-pronged approach.
The study examined the context, content and nature of Ewe Cosmology and Spirituality to decipher their significance or implications to Christianity, Theology, and Biblical scholarship in Africa. The study used the qualitative and phenomenology theory. Together they provided the right framework to engage with the critical issues that emerged thereof. The study analysed the historical trajectories and the nature and forms of their socioreligiocultural engagement with other cultures or people groups. It was observed that the Ewe people’s historical development and encounters with different cultures produced a unique but complex cosmology pervaded by diverse spiritualities. Furthermore, it has created distinctive socioreligiocultural cosmology and spirituality that present very peculiar challenge that Christianity and Theology need to find a way around in order to engage meaningfully and effectively with the Ewe socioreligioculture. Recognition of the uniqueness of the Ewe cosmology and spirituality will inform the development of the right epistemology or nomenclature to fill the impasse created by the sharp dichotomy between the Ewe and Western (missionary) religiocultural cosmologies. The study concludes that the Ewe cosmology and spirituality present very unique and distinctive but legitimate and competitive socioreligiocultural frameworks that present great significance for appropriate epistemological frameworks or nomenclatures for Christianity, Theology and Biblical scholarship in Africa. Keywords: Cosmology, Christianity, Theology, Migration.
Le Ghana a rejoint le groupe des démocraties en transition en créant la Commission de réconciliation nationale (CRN), qui débuta ses travaux en 2002. Elle reçut le mandat d'enquêter sur les atrocités et violations des droits humains passées, de recommander des compensations adéquates pour les victimes et de réconcilier la nation. Or, les attentes et la confiance des Ghanéens en la capacité de la CRN de guérir les blessures du passé, mettre un terme au cycle de vengeance et de vendettas et de réconcilier la nation furent partagées depuis que la Commission termina ses travaux et remit son rapport, en octobre 2004. Cet article prend position pour la Commission de réconciliation nationale au Ghana, soutenant qu'elle est la meilleure parmi les solutions possibles pour traiter des violations passées des droits humains au Ghana.
Ghana joined a group of transitional democracies in the world by establishing a National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), which started work in September 2002. The NRC was mandated to investigate past atrocities and human rights violations, recommend appropriate compensation for victims, and reconcile the nation. But expectations among Ghanaians of the ability of the NRC to heal the wounds of the past, end the cycle of vengeance and vendettas, and reconcile the nation have been mixed even after the NRC completed its work and submitted its report in October 2004. This paper makes a case for Ghana's NRC. It argues that a National Reconciliation Commission is a better way of dealing with the egregious human rights violations in Ghana's past than the alternatives available.
This article questions the universality of the human rights corpus and argues that a human rights doctrine that is legitimate across cultures and traditions is not possible without the participation of the wider globe. Its purpose is to imagine and reconfigure a rights regime that could achieve legitimacy in Africa. It argues that African cultures and conceptions of man have a lot to contribute to the exercise of the reconstruction of the human rights corpus. The piece focuses attention on particular African ideas and conceptions of society, morality, and human ethos that would enrich the human rights regime and make it more legitimate in Africa.
The legal basis for abolishing the Trokosi system
- A Ababio
Social control in traditional Southern Eweland of Ghana: Relevance for modern crime prevention
- C Abotchie
Introduction” in Francis Agbodeka (Ed.) A handbook of Eweland Volume I: The Ewes of Southeastern Ghana
- F Agbodeka