This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2021)
Witch camps are settlements where women in
Ghana who have been accused of being
witches can flee for safety. Women in such camps have been accused of witchcraft for various reasons, including
mental illness. Some camps are thought to have been created in the early 20th century.[1] The Ghanaian government has enacted measures to eliminate such camps.[2]
Description
Women suspected of being witches sometimes flee to witch camp settlements for safety, often in order to avoid being
lynched by neighbours.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
Many women in such camps are
widows; relatives are believed to accuse them of witchcraft in order to seize their late husbands' possessions.[8] Many women in the witch camps also suffer from mental illness, a poorly understood phenomenon in Ghana.[9][8] In one camp in
Gambaga in the north, women are given protection by the local
chieftain, and in return, pay him and work in his fields.[10][11]
The Anti-Witchcraft Allegations Campaign Coalition-Ghana (AWACC-Ghana) has reported that the number of outcasts residing in witch camps is growing, and that food supplies there are insufficient.[12]
Locations
There are at least six witch camps in
Ghana, housing a total of approximately 1,000 women.[8] The camps are located in Bonyasi,
Gambaga, Gnani, Kpatinga,
Kukuo and Naabuli, all in
Northern Ghana.[13] Some of the camps are thought to have been created over 100 years ago.[8][12][14][15][16][17]
The
Ghanaian government has announced its intent to close the witch camps and educate the public that witches do not exist.[18][8] In December 2014,
Minister for Gender and Social Protection Nana Oye Lithur disbanded the Bonyasi camp located in
Central Gonja District and re-integrated its residents into their communities.[19] As of 2015, the Ghanaian government had shut down several witch camps.[20]