Forced CriminalityArchive 2008–2016

Forced Criminality in Afao, Ghana (2010)

A forced criminality case from 2010 in Afao, Ghana, Togo.

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Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). We don’t have a verifiable source on file yet. Know one?

What happened

The Kadza Yeve shrine took in "yevesi" shrine servants, a form of ritual servitude. As Yeve, every part of the victim's life is strictly controlled by the shrine and there are substantial punishments for offenses. The priest freed the 55 shrine servants associated with the shrine on March 25, 2010, after becoming a Christian.

Response and intervention

Not needed since the priest freed his slaves willingly. For five years staff of Every Child Ministries visited and built a relationship with this priest, a head priest of the area. In the end the priest decided to become a Christian and freed all 55 of his shrine servants willingly with the collaboration of Every Child Ministries. Counseling, vocational training, micro-credit opportunities and help starting small businesses. Every Child Ministries Ghana Every Child Ministries

Nearby cases

All 12 in Togo →

Sex Trafficking2008

Aflao, Ghana, Togo, 2008

Togo TG

The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but no one has ever been prosecuted under the law. Rather, the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. The NGO Every Child Ministries Ghana negotiated with the Sovigbenor shrine community and educated them as to the issues over a span of over a year, finally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all 126 of its trokosi slaves on December 9, 2005. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a 79 year old woman was liberated who had been enslaved there since she was about one year old.

1 sourceArchive 2008–2016

Forced Criminality2010

Aflao, Ghana, Togo, 2010

Togo TG

The priest volunteered to free his shrine servants with the collaboration of Every Child Ministries after he became a Christian. The victim in this case was a 55 year old woman who was taken into the shrine "very young" by her father, but never knew the reason. Because of this she was never able to attend school.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016

CSEC2009

Aflao, Ghana, Togo, 2009

Togo TG

The practice of ritual or customary servitude was outlawed in Ghana in 1998, but the practical implementation of the law has fallen largely to NGO's who have facilitated the shrines in ending the practice. The NGO Every Child Ministries Ghana negotiated with the Sovigbenor shrine and educated the sfinally winning the approval of the shrine for the liberation of all 126 of its trokosi slaves on December 9, 2005. The liberation was a public event in which the shrine freed the slaves and agreed to end the practice of ritual servitude in that place. In this case a 13 year old girl was freed who had been enslaved in the shrine since she was too young to remember. She had been sent to the shrine to replace her grandmother who had been a trokosi. The practice of replacement demands that when an offense is perceived, it must be atoned for until the end of time, so that if one slave dies or runs away, she must be replaced by another from the same family.

Needs a sourceArchive 2008–2016