In northern Ghana, hundreds of women accused of witchcraft by relatives or members of their community are living in 'witch camps' after fleeing or being banished from their homes.
The camps, which are home to around 800 women and 500 children, offer poor living conditions and little hope of a normal life. The women have fled discrimination, threats or even mob justice after being accused of witchcraft and blamed for 'crimes' such as causing sickness, droughts or fires, cursing a neighbour or even just appearing in someone's dream.
Those who reach the witch camps are the lucky ones. Women have been murdered after accusations of witchcraft. Recently a mother of three was beaten and set on fire after being blamed for making a child sick through witchcraft.1 In 2010, the case of a 72-year-old woman who was set on fire and killed made headlines around the world.2Some elderly women have lived in the camps for as long as 40 years - abandoned by their families and trapped in the camps until they die. Their only companions are young girls, often granddaughters or family members, who were sent with the women as 'attendants'. Most of these girls have never gone to school, or have dropped out, and even when they reach the age when they could leave the camps, they usually cannot because they are tainted by the word 'witch'.

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• Time to Shut Down All Witches' Camps Is Now
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• The Culture of Witchcraft Accusations - a Threat to Women's Rights in Ghana
• ActionAid Ghana Condemns Lynching of 90-Year-Old Alleged Witch in the Savannah Region
• Women Accused of Witchcraft in Ghana Find Refuge in Outpost Run By Sisters
• Shut Down 'Witch' Camps - Lynching of 90-Year-Old Woman Condemned
• Basicneeds Supports Inmates of 4 Witches Camp in Northern Region
• Enough Is Enough! Attack and Lynching of Alleged Witches Must Stop
• Education, Not Disbandment