Abstract
In Ghana, older women may be marginalized, abused, and even killed as witches. Media accounts imply this is common practice, mainly through stories of “witches camps” to which the accused may flee. Anthropological literature on aging and on witchcraft, however, suggests that this focus exaggerates and misinterprets the problem. This article presents a literature review and exploratory data on elder advocacy and rights intervention on behalf of accused witches in Ghana to help answer the question of how witchcraft accusations become an older woman’s problem in the context of aging and elder advocacy work. The ineffectiveness of rights based and formal intervention through sponsored education programs and development projects is contrasted with the benefit of informal conflict resolution by family and staff of advocacy organizations. Data are based on ethnographic research in Ghana on a rights based program addressing witchcraft accusations by a national elder advocacy organization and on rights based intervention in three witches camps.
Highlights
Witchcraft beliefs are a part of every day life in Ghana and a part of aging in Ghana as well
The data used in this paper were collected as part of a larger cross national study of elder advocacy projects piloted by a nongovernmental organization in the U.S and one in Ghana
It was in the context of helping me prepare for a mediation training as requested by Ghanaian Aging Resources (GAR) in 2003 by offering an example of a potential mediation case
Summary
Witchcraft beliefs are a part of every day life in Ghana and a part of aging in Ghana as well This is typically not a problem for older adults, in a country where the connotation of the English word “old” is more positive; a colloquial term for translating, “I am old” means “I have grown” (van der Geest 2005). Older adults who have “done well” over the life course financially and socially have supported younger generations, and can expect to be supported in return as they reach old age. Even as they may become weaker physically, they are valued for their wisdom accumulated through life experience. He is happiest when the younger generations seek his advice (van der Geest 1998)
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