Ghana’s ‘witch camps’ places of shame, with no escape
JOHANNESBURG—In the witch camps of Ghana, the dying contortions of a slaughtered chicken determine the guilt of an accused woman: witch, or not.
If the chicken falls with its head down and its feet in the air, the woman is declared a witch and she must spend the rest of her days in the squalor of the camp, abandoned by her family, with just one unfortunate young relation sent by her family to care for her until she dies.
And if the chicken collapses feet down and she’s declared innocent of witchcraft? She still must spend her remaining years in the camp, just in case some villagers don’t believe in her innocence.
“They’re not safe when they return,” said Adwoa Kwateng-Kluvitse, Ghana director for international aid organization Action Aid, which is working to educate northern Ghanaian communities on the rights of the accused in an effort to end witchcraft accusations.
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1273638--ghana-s-witch-camps-places-of-shame-with-no-escape