Latest News

From Ghana

Short term medical missions from International Needs have seen more than 20,000 patients in Ghana. More ...

Slavery still exists in a remote area of the Volta Region of Ghana. 

Trokosi is a powerful traditional religious cult which involves young virgin girls being sent to 'fetish shrines'. Trokosi priests require them as payment to the gods for wrongs committed by the girl’s family. The crime could be using abusive language, stealing or even murder. The family is forced to send a young virgin to stop the curses believed to be caused by the 'fetish gods'. The girl is imprisoned in the shrine and will spend the rest of her life in servitude.

If a Trokosi woman dies, her family are expected to replace her. The girl will have no opportunity for education or to learn a trade; any child born to a Trokosi woman becomes another worker in the shrine.

Liberating Women from slavery

We have been working in this area since 1987 and so far we have seen an estimated 3,500 Trokosi women and their children liberated and rehabilitated.

The Trokosi Modernisation Project involves working with communities to bring much needed schools and water wells as well as negotiating with the priest and the village elders for the release of the women and their children

The fetish priests and shrine owners are encouraged to accept livestock or money instead of girls to appease the gods.

The Trokosi Modernisation Project has seen 50 shrines commit to stopping the acceptance of women as slaves.

Helping women back into the community

After liberation, our Vocational Training Centre in Adidome provides women with counselling and a Vocational Training Programme. They are taught to read and write in their own language, provided with healthcare, clothing, and each woman is equipped with a skill, such as dressmaking, tailoring, baking or hairstyling. These skills will allow her to be self-sufficient and provide for herself and her children who are also given a place at an International Needs School. The Training Centre needs to be extended however, as the current capacity is very limited. More classrooms and other facilities are needed.