Ghanaian authorities have failed to protect the human rights of hundreds of women accused of witchcraft, Amnesty International has warned. Attacks by their accusers are forcing them to flee their communities in fear for their lives, taking shelter in camps with rudimentary facilities.
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The human rights NGO interviewed 93 people who had been accused of witchcraft living in four camps in northern Ghana over the last two years – 82 of them women, most aged 50 to 90.
The resulting report, entitled Branded for Life, details how those sheltering in these camps, run by traditional priests, have poor access to health services, food, clean water and economic opportunities.
When teams from Amnesty visited the camps in November 2023 and April 2024, they found more than 500 people living in them.
“We first heard about the issue in July 2020, when a woman was lynched and part of the lynching was caught on camera and created outrage nationwide,” Michèle Eken, senior researcher at Amnesty, told RFI.
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As Amnesty embarked on a long-term research project on the issue, a law criminalising witchcraft-related attacks was pending in Ghana’s parliament – which ultimately was passed, but never signed into law.
“That gave us even more interest in pushing further and understanding the issue,” Eken said. “So that’s why this report is focused on trying to bring light to this issue.”
Stereotypical gender roles
Amnesty’s research shows that the belief in witchcraft is entrenched in several communities in Ghana, as it is in many communities around the world,
While it notes that: “It is important to distinguish harmful practices and human rights violations related to witchcraft accusations and the legitimate exercise of religious freedom, which is protected under international law,” it also found that not enough is done by the authorities to combat stereotypes against women that lead to to witchcraft accusations.
The report shows that such accusations can lead to threats, physical attacks, even killings, which usually begin within the family or the local community following an illness or a death.
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Older women living in poverty, those with limited education and those with health conditions or disabilities are at greater risk of these accusations, as well as women who are unmarried or otherwise do not conform to stereotypical gender roles.
Some accusers have even reported basing their claims on bad dreams they have had about a certain person.
One resident of the Gnani camp told Amnesty that her neighbour said he dreamt that she was trying to kill him. “He doesn’t want me [in the community], that’s why he accused me,” she said.
The woman reported having refused a marriage between the village chief and her daughters as the reason for these accusations.
A resident of the Kukuo camp, aged around 60, said: “They always have plans of putting allegations against you, especially if you are hardworking and are still strong and doing well as a woman.”
‘A duty to protect’
The report shows that in the northern and north-east regions of Ghana, women accused of witchcraft have no safe place to run to other than the camps overseen by religious leaders, which are now more than a century old.
One woman reported her struggles with her accommodation: “I have my own room here, but it needs re-roofing. Water comes down through the roof when it rains.”
A resident of the Kukuo camp in her eighties has not been able to support herself since she fled her village. She said she had enough food at home thanks to her harvests, but now, “if someone doesn’t feed me, how would I eat?”
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Amnesty says the Ghanaian government has failed to ensure access to food, safe housing and clean water in the camps, while health services for women who have serious or ongoing health conditions are also inadequate.
Opportunities for these women to support themselves financially are limited, and governmental programmes to support them are inadequate
“The government provides a cash transfer programme, but not everyone in the camps is registered for it. Moreover, for those who receive financial assistance, it is not always paid on time and the amount is insufficient to provide an adequate standard of living,” the report states.
“Because people in the camps are unable to provide for themselves, the authorities have a duty to protect and support them. But they have so far failed to do so,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s interim regional director for West and Central Africa.
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The NGO now hopes that Ghana’s government will establish a long-term national awareness campaign to challenge cultural and social practices that discriminate against women and older people, leaving them vulnerable to witchcraft accusations. It is also recommending that legislation is passed criminalising witchcraft accusations and related attacks.
