This is a cultural and religious practice that is observed not only in Ghana, but also in Benin and Nigeria. It is a practice where the vestal virgin girls are taken to shrines to serve the gods permanently as a form of reparation for crimes committed by their family members.
Universal human rights must reject the Trokosi system. Cultural relativism implies a respect for cultural differences, but the Trokosi system is a blatant violation of the human rights of women and children.
Imagine that it is the year 2020 and you are slave. Imagine that you are a five-year-old girl, and for no other reason than the fact that you are a virgin and related to someone who owed a favor to the gods, you become subjected to a lifetime of repeated sexual and physical abuse.
The international community must change the lives of Trokosi victims and influence Ghana's governmental responses to human rights abuses against the Trokosi women.
The term Trokosi is an Ewe word that literally translates to mean "slavery to the Gods". Tro is translated to mean "god" while Kosi can be used to mean virgin, slave, or wife.
The young pre-pubescent girls are offered by their parents to traditional priests in the faith that such an action will atone the sins committed bu their parents or their relatives.
Fetish priests are believed to have direct communication with the gods. They have the power to communicate directly with the gods.
After having her hair shaved, the girl is then clothed in grey calico or clothes of blue and black hues. Then, she is given a necklace, called a la, which consists of fiber strands of raffia leaf, to wear.
These slaves wives of the gods are frequently raped and beaten. They are forced to beg for food and they receive no education. They receive no medical attention. They work for long hours in the priest's fields. The babies born to the girls must also become slaves to the priest.
The Anti-Slavery Society has succeeded in purchasing the freedom of over 500 slave girls.
In 1998 Ghana passed a law banning the practice.
However, several thousand girls still remain in slavery. Some people argue that it is part of their culture. They argue that Trokosi is part of a three hundred year tradition in the Upper Volta region that encompasses Ghana, Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.
But Troxorvi or Trokosi subjugate women and girls. And these bride of the spirits given into ritual servitude today are slaves. They are used as forced labour and for ritual worship, including sexual rituals.
The voices of Trokosi children are silenced for fear of punishment and retribution.
We need to break this cycle of abuse. Changing the mindset of a culture of abuse takes generations but every Trokosi woman and family who is set free, provides the encouragement to keep on fighting in order to stop this system of slaves of the Fetish.
Cultural rights versus human rights: The Trokosi system must be abolished!
We must abolish these armful cultural practices against women.
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