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Ritual Servitude
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. In Ghana and in Togo, it is practiced by the Ewe people in the Volta region; in Benin, it is practiced by the Fon. These shrine slaves serve the priests, elders, and owners of a traditional religious shrine without remuneration and without their consent, although the consent of the family or clan may be involved. Those who practice ritual servitude usually feel that the girl is serving the god or gods of the shrine and is married to the gods of the shrine. If a girl runs away or dies, she must be replaced by another girl from the family. Some girls in ritual servitude are the third or fourth girl in their family suffering for the same crime, sometimes for something as minor as the loss of trivial property. ...
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Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to the east. Ghana covers an area of , spanning diverse ecologies, from coastal savannas to tropical rainforests. With nearly 35 million inhabitants, Ghana is the second-most populous country in West Africa. The capital and largest city is Accra; other significant cities include Tema, Kumasi, Sunyani, Ho, Cape Coast, Techiman, Tamale, and Sekondi-Takoradi. The earliest kingdoms to emerge in Ghana were Bonoman in the south and the Kingdom of Dagbon in the north, with Bonoman existing in the area during the 11th century. The  Asante Empire and other Akan kingdoms in the south emerged over the centuries. Beginning in the 15th century, the Portuguese Empire, followed by other European powers, contested the area for trading r ...
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Devdasi
In India, a devadasi is a female artist who is dedicated to the worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of her life. The dedication takes place in a ceremony that is somewhat similar to a marriage ceremony. In addition to taking care of the temple and performing rituals, these women also learn and practice classical Indian dances such as Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi, and Odissi. Their status as dancers, musicians, and consorts was an essential part of temple worship. Devadasis also engaged in providing sexual services to temple officials and devotees as part of their temple responsibilities, with the earnings from these services being handed over to the temple. The practice of temple prostitution became more prominent with the emergence of Puranic Hinduism. Between the sixth and thirteenth centuries, Devadasis had a high rank and dignity in society and were exceptionally affluent as they were seen as the protectors of the arts. During this period ...
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Religion In Ghana
Christianity is the largest religion in Ghana, with 71.3% of the population belonging to various Christian denominations as of 2021 census. Islam is practised by 19.9% of the total population. According to a report by the Pew Research, 51% of Muslims are followers of Sunni Islam, while approximately 16% belong to the Ahmadiyya movement and around 8% identify with Shia Islam, while the remainder are non-denominational Muslims.Owusu-Ansah (1994), "Religion and Society". Ethnic religion, Traditional religions such as the Akan religion, Akan Traditional Religion and Kingdom of Dagbon, Dagbon Traditional Religion are indigenous. Islam was the first Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic religion to be introduced in the country between the tenth and 15th centuries, by Muslim traders. Later, Christianity was introduced via contact with the European Missionary, missionaries. Christianity is mainly in the country's south while Islam is based in the north. Islam gained widespread acceptance in nort ...
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Women And Religion
The study of women and religion examines women in the context of different religious faiths. This includes considering female gender roles in religious history as well as how women participate in religion. Particular consideration is given to how religion has been used as a patriarchal tool to elevate the status and power of men over women. In addition, religion portrays gender within religious doctrines. Abrahamic religions Christianity Christians have vastly diverse views on women's rights, responsibilities, and roles in different times and places. Many Christians believe that women and men are spiritually equal, and that their equality should be expressed in the Church's life. While some perspectives within the religion uphold equality between the sexes, others more rooted in the patriarchy of the ancient world equate cultural principles with religious ones to oppress women. A more patriarchal Christianity sets a mold for women to adhere to and limits their freedom in th ...
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Human Rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning they belong to every individual simply by virtue of being human, regardless of characteristics like nationality, ethnicity, religion, or socio-economic status. They encompass a broad range of civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights, such as the right to life, freedom of expression, protection against enslavement, and right to education. The modern concept of human rights gained significant prominence after World War II, particularly in response to the atrocities of the Holocaust, leading to the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948. This document outlined a comprehensive framework of rights that countries are encouraged t ...
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Child Labour
Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation worldwide, although these laws do not consider all work by children as child labour; exceptions include work by child artists, family duties, supervised training, and some forms of work undertaken by Amish children, as well as by Indigenous children in the Americas. Child labour has existed to varying extents throughout history. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, many children aged 5–14 from poorer families worked in Western nations and their colonies alike. These children mainly worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories, mining, and services such as news boys—some worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and passage of child labour laws, the inc ...
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Child Sexual Abuse
Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activities with a child (whether by asking or pressuring, or by other means), indecent exposure, child grooming, and child sexual exploitation, such as using a child to produce child pornography. CSA is not confined to specific settings; it permeates various institutions and communities. CSA affects children in all socioeconomic levels, across all racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, and in both rural and urban areas. In places where child labor is common, CSA is not restricted to one individual setting; it passes through a multitude of institutions and communities. This includes but is not limited to schools, homes, and online spaces where adolescents are exposed to abuse and exploitation. Child marriage is one of the main forms of child sexual ...
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Slavery By Type
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavement is the placement of a person into slavery, and the person is called a slave or an enslaved person (see ). Many historical cases of enslavement occurred as a result of breaking the law, becoming indebted, suffering a military defeat, or exploitation for cheaper labor; other forms of slavery were instituted along demographic lines such as race or sex. Slaves would be kept in bondage for life, or for a fixed period of time after which they would be granted freedom. Although slavery is usually involuntary and involves coercion, there are also cases where people voluntarily enter into slavery to pay a debt or earn money due to poverty. In the course of human history, slavery was a typical feature of civilization, and existed in most societ ...
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Rituals
A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally associated with gestures, words, or revered objects, rituals also occur in non-human species, such as elephant mourning or corvid object-leaving. They may be prescribed by tradition, including religious practices, and are often characterized by formalism, traditionalism, rule-governance, and performance. Rituals are a feature of all known human societies. They include not only the worship rites and sacraments of organized religions and cults, but also rites of passage, atonement and purification rites, oaths of allegiance, dedication ceremonies, coronations and presidential inaugurations, marriages, funerals and more. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying " hello" may be termed as ''rituals''. The field of ritual studies ...
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Every Child Ministries
Every Child Ministries is a Christian charity and mission agency that works for African children. The charity is specially known for its advocacy on behalf of neglected, downtrodden, and marginalized groups of African children. It was first incorporated in the US in the state of Indiana in 1985, but is now incorporated and recognized as an NGO in all three of the African countries it ministers in. Programs Source: Initiative for street children (DR Congo, Ghana, Uganda) Vocational apprenticeship for street youth (DR Congo, Ghana, Uganda) Haven of Hope Children's Home (Ghana)"Couple Helps African Street Children Get a Christmas Home", Kathie Godfrey, The News, Merrillville, IN, Dec. 26, 2003, p. 3.The Christian Post, www.christianpost.com, December 2, 2003, "Haven of Hope in Ghana Celebrates First Anniversary" Haven of Hope Academy (Ghana) Educational assistance for orphans & vulnerable children through sponsorship (DR Congo, Uganda, Ghana) and educational gift sets Speci ...
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Child Slavery
Child slavery means that children have to work under slave-like conditions. Even though-slavery has been abolished, there are still many children with this fate. Many of them live in developing countries. The enslavement of children can be traced back through history. Despite the fact that slavery has been abolished, children continue to be enslaved and trafficked. Particularly in developing countries, this is a problem. Like other forms of modern slavery, child slavery is also often linked to poverty: Families "sell" their children, because they are poor, and often do not see other options. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote about a man who bought a slave woman, just to bear children, which he could then sell as slaves. History Child slavery refers of the slavery of children below the age of majority. Many children have been sold into slavery in the past for their family to repay debts or crimes or earn some money if the family were short of cash. In the Roman Empire, the children ...
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Sacred Prostitution
Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult prostitution, and religious prostitution are purported Ritual, rites consisting of Prostitution, paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite or divine marriage (). Scholars prefer the terms "Sexual ritual, sacred sex" or "sacred sexual rites" in cases where payment for services is not involved. The historicity of literal sacred prostitution, particularly in some places and periods, is a controversial topic within the academic world. Historically mainstream historiography has considered it a probable reality, based on the abundance of ancient sources and chroniclers detailing its practices, although it has proved harder to differentiate between true prostitution and sacred sex without remuneration.Joan Goodnick Westenholz, ''Tamar, Qedesha, Qadishtu, and Sacred Prostitution in Mesopotamia'', The Harvard Theological Review 82, 198 Beginning in the late 20th century, a number of sc ...
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