Witch camps are settlements where women in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

who have been accused of being

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

es can flee for safety. Women in such camps have been accused of witchcraft for various reasons, including

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

. Some camps are thought to have been created in the early 20th century. The Ghanaian government has enacted measures to eliminate such camps.

Description

Women suspected of being witches sometimes flee to witch camp settlements for safety, often in order to avoid being

lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...

by neighbours. Many women in such camps are

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

s; relatives are believed to accuse them of witchcraft in order to seize their late husbands' possessions. Many women in the witch camps also suffer from mental illness, a poorly understood phenomenon in Ghana. In one camp in

Gambaga Gambaga is the capital of the East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly in the North East Region of Ghana. Once a residence of Mamprusi-kings it is still the capital of East Mamprusi Municipal Assembly, a municipality in the North East Region of Ghana. ...

in the north, women are given protection by the local

chieftain A tribal chief or chieftain is the leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom. Tribe The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Afroeurasia. Tribal societies are sometimes categori ...

, and in return, pay him and work in his fields. The Anti-Witchcraft Allegations Campaign Coalition-Ghana (AWACC-Ghana) has reported that the number of outcasts residing in witch camps is growing, and that food supplies there are insufficient.

Locations

There are at least six witch camps in

, housing a total of approximately 1,000 women. The camps are located in Bonyasi,

, Gnani, Kpatinga, Kukuo and Naabuli, all in

Northern Ghana The Northern Region is one of the sixteen regions of Ghana. It is located in the north of the country and was the largest of the sixteen regions, covering an area of 70,384 square kilometres or 31 percent of Ghana's area until December 2018 when ...

. Some of the camps are thought to have been created over 100 years ago. The

Ghanaian government The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...

has announced its intent to close the witch camps and educate the public that witches do not exist. In December 2014, Minister for Gender and Social Protection Nana Oye Lithur disbanded the Bonyasi camp located in

Central Gonja District Central Gonja District is one of the seven districts in Savannah Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger West Gonja District on 23 December 1988, until the part of the district was split off by a decree of president Jo ...

and re-integrated its residents into their communities. As of 2015, the Ghanaian government had shut down several witch camps.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Witch camps in Ghana
''Video by Yaba Badoe about women in Ghanaian camps''
Women in Ghana Religion in Ghana Refugee camps in Africa Modern witch hunts African witchcraft Violence against women in Ghana

Description

Locations

See also

References

External links