Behind all good fiction stands facts.
When everything seems to be going wrong within your family, what do you do? Do you all pray together? Go to counseling? Push through it? Well according to a traditional practice amongst the Ewe ethnic group, the problem and solution is identified.
The problem is that a man in the family, living or already dead, committed a sin that upset the gods. In turn, the gods caused “all hell to break loose” on that family. In order to remedy the problem, a sacrifice must be made. This sacrifice consists of a virgin girl.
A family member drops her off to a priest a shrine where in most cases the girl doesn’t even know what’s about to happen, why it’s happening, or anything. She’s just dropped off and never sees her family again. The priest of the shrine is said to have a direct connection with the gods. He can request blessings and curses onto a family and in fear of being cursed, families have been adhering to this custom for centuries. Below is a few components of the system.
- Originated in Togo and Benin in the 17th century. Soldiers of war offered women to the shrines in exchange for their personal safety and victory
- Become known as a trokosi or “wife of the gods”; some have even referred to them as priestesses
- Are forced to work hard (usually agricultural or herding) and have sex with the priest whenever he chooses to
- Any children birthed become property of the shrine though the mother is responsible for raising the child
- Malnourished
- Are brutally beaten for disobedience
- Contact with outside friends or family is forbidden
- Contracts? Pssh. This is a lifetime obligations and sometimes even generational
- If she runs away or dies (suicide or murder), the family must replace her or the curse continues
- Girls are not educated
- Enter as early as the age of four though sex doesn’t take place until after her first menstruation cycle
- Some shrines even accept young boys
What bothers me most is the fact that I like to think of myself as someone that respects cultural practices. However, is this wrong? Or is it only wrong to me due to my cultural beliefs? There are women and men, many of which are educated, that have voiced their support for the practice of it. I do keep these girls, which there are said to be about 5,000 of Trokosi today, in my deepest prayers. I knew nothing of this a few weeks ago and then I read a book entitled “My Name is Butterfly” by Bernice McFadden that revealed it to me and have dived face first into its respective research ever since.
What’s being done? There are organizations fighting it. The UN and few others are working on the governmental/political level. Others, such as the International Needs Ghana works with the shrines themselves. They buy the girls back from the shrines costing anywhere from $40 (US dollars) to $74 dollars for each girl.
I really really really really really (can I stop now?) hate to surface the bad news of Africa. However, more light should be shed on this problem. Dear Africa, I’ll make this up to you with a wonderful post soon. I promise.
