Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

14 p.

Publication Date

2013

Publisher

Association for Anthropology & Gerontology

Source Publication

Anthropology & Aging Quarterly

Source ISSN

1559-6680

Original Item ID

doi: 10.5195/aa.2013.20

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.

Comments

Published version. Anthropology & Aging Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 2 (2013): 199-212. DOI. © 2013 Association for Anthropology & Gerontology. Used with permission.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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