Gambaga Witch camp
Gambaga Witch Camp is a segregated community within Gambaga township in the North East Region of Ghana established as a shelter to accommodate alleged witches and wizards who are banished from their communities.[1][2][3]
The camp has about 25 round huts, and holds about 100 inmates. No health services or indoor plumbing are available.[4]
Many women in Ghana's witch camps are widows and it is thought that relatives accused them of witchcraft.[5] Other inmates in the camp have been accused of using black magic to cause misfortunes in their community.[6] Many women also are mentally ill, a little understood problem in Ghana.[5] In Gambaga, the women are given protection by the local chieftain.[7]
Yaba Badoe made a documentary film, The Witches of Gambaga about the alleged witches.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ de Trey-White, Simon (June 23, 2007). "The Witches of Gambaga: Belief in Witchcraft Is Still Widespread in Africa, and Being Accused of Its Practice Can Be a Death Sentence. and with Traditional Gender Roles Being Challenged, Such Accusations Are Becoming Increasingly Common. Simon De Trey-White Visits a Camp in Ghana That Has Housed 'Convicted' Witches for More Than 200 Years". Geographical.[dead link]
- ^ Sullivan, Tim (11 January 1998). "A Prison Sometimes a Haven: Ghana's Witch Villages Only Safe Place for Women Accused of Casting Spells". Associated Press. Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO). Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ Djanie, Akua (January 1, 2013). "Africa for Halloween?". New African. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ Npong, Francis (2014). "Witch Camps of Ghana". Utne Reader (Winter): 48–49. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
- ^ a b "Ghana witch camps: Widows' lives in exile". BBC. 1 September 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
- ^ "Hundreds of women trapped in Ghana's 'witch camps'". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
- ^ "Ghana: the Witches of Gambaga". London: Yaba Badoe. 25 November 2010. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
External links
[edit]- Video by Yaba Badoe about women in Ghanaian camps
- Dispatches Saving Africa's Witch Children
- Witch Child Documentary
10°31′50″N 0°26′32″W / 10.53056°N 0.44222°W