Why Hundreds of Innocent Women are Being Forced into Exile.

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]Imagine waking up one day and your entire community believes you are dangerous.

[00:00:06]Yeah.

[00:00:08]They come up with a story that you are a witch.

[00:00:12]No proof, no trial, nothing.

[00:00:16]Just belief.

[00:00:18]And because of that belief, you are forced to leave everything behind.

[00:00:24]As much as I am very happy doing this series and creating this awareness, it is actually very heartbreaking. The amount of inhuman treatment women face in the world that I've been exposed to these past few weeks, trust me, we are yet to scratch the surface. So, in some parts of Ghana, there are places known as witch camps.

[00:00:51]They are not prisons, even though I believe they are. They are not shelters in the way you might think.

[00:00:59]They are where women go when society decides they no longer belong.

[00:01:06]And the majority of these women are older women, sometimes widowed or just generally vulnerable women.

[00:01:15]Today, we are talking about how belief, fear, and tradition can turn into exile for women, of course. So, these witch camps are settlements where women accused of witchcraft are sent for their safety.

[00:01:35]You may want to listen to that again.

[00:01:37]They are sent there for their own safety because in some cases, if they stayed in their community, they may be harmed or even get lynched.

[00:01:49]You see, growing up there's this particular woman that used to be my mother's neighbor in the market. She was very, very hard-working woman. This woman toiled so much for her children.

[00:01:59]She traveled all the way to village markets just to see that everything is okay, at least she and her children live comfortable life, at least to some extent. Honestly, I didn't know anything about her husband. I never had or saw her husband, but we all knew how hard-working this woman was and how much she loved her children. Even though they were grown up, I think the last child at the time was still in secondary school.

[00:02:23]Not until one day news started flying around town that her children came together to beat that woman. So, it was neighbors that saved her from her children. What happened, you may ask?

[00:02:36]One of her children went to pray, or rather went to a church, this particular church, to find out why they are not excelling, why they were not progressing in their family. And the pastor or prophet said it was their mother that was behind their predicament.

[00:02:56]So, I do not know how she was able to convince her siblings, and they all believed their mother was a witch and that she was the one behind their predicament. So, they ganged up and beat this woman.

[00:03:10]It was her cry for help that alerted the neighbors and they came to rescue her.

[00:03:17]Now, when this news started going around, we that knew them, like, you know, close up, at that time, I was still very young, but at that time, it didn't make sense to me because I know how much this woman had, you know, toiled for her children. That was the first time, you guys, if you hear my voice, I am a little bit under the weather, so I kind of sound husky, okay?

[00:03:42]So, that was the first time I ever saw that family members, even children, can actually accuse their mother of witchcraft. Apart from what has been portrayed in Nollywood, that was the first time physically I am seeing and hearing it. And it didn't make sense to me. Now, imagine coming to realize that it is actually a tradition in some places that you can actually send like that there is actually a camp where you send women to all in the name of they are witches.

[00:04:18]Women that are just accused.

[00:04:21]You see, I came across a lot of documentaries while putting this together, and I was also surprised. I was also surprised that in my whole life, as an African that has been among Ghanaians before, this is the first time I am learning that women are accused of witchcraft and are sent away from their families and loved ones and sent into exile without any concrete evidence. Not like exile is new to me, okay? I've had people who committed atrocities, who confessed to those atrocities and are sent They were banished from the community. And also, thanks to Nollywood, too. But we are talking about how one person can just wake up one morning and say, "This woman is a witch."

[00:05:08]And that is it.

[00:05:10]The whole community will come together and try to harm you. No matter how much innocence you plead, there's usually no evidence in the way we understand it. A woman can be accused just because someone in the village falls sick. Let's say a child dies unexpectedly. Oh, let's look for that woman that doesn't have a child. She must be the one that killed this child. Or say a harvest fails.

[00:05:40]Oh, the old women in this village are witches. They are the ones that are making our harvest to fail. So, let's look for one of them and accuse her. It is so bad that you might have a dream and someone finds it suspicious. Boom!

[00:05:55]You are a witch.

[00:05:57]They'll be like, "Come to think of it, she lives alone. Why does she live alone? She must be a witch."

[00:06:04]Or maybe she speaks up, you know, people like me, especially when it comes to inheritance.

[00:06:11]How do we allow her to inherit everything my brother has worked for?

[00:06:15]Why would she inherit everything my brother left behind? The best thing for us to do is to tag her a witch. And once we do that, she's gone for good. After all, she has no one to defend her. They always know their targets. This particular woman said she woke up one morning and there were crowd of people in front of her door.

[00:06:37]And when she came out, they accused her of being a witch.

[00:06:41]What happened? Her neighbor died and they accused her of killing her neighbor.

[00:06:47]She said she didn't even know the neighbor that much and that she does not believe in witchcraft. So, in her wildest dream, she never, ever thought that she would be accused of witchcraft.

[00:06:59]And here she is in a witch camp for something she knows nothing about.

[00:07:05]This particular woman said her nephew was owing her huge sum of money and, you know, she kept asking for her money.

[00:07:14]And he refused to pay.

[00:07:16]Next thing, he started accusing her of witchcraft.

[00:07:20]And that was how she found herself in this camp. She has been in this camp for 33 years hoping and waiting for her to be vindicated so she can go back home.

[00:07:32]Another woman said it was her own brother that threatened to pluck her eyes out. Who knows what she has? Maybe a farmland or something that she has inherited and he wanted it that bad.

[00:07:43]Another woman said she was accused and beaten to the point that she almost passed. That by the time she got to the camp, she was almost gone.

[00:07:53]You need to see women with scars on their bodies from the torture they went through before they found their way to this witch camp. Some with broken legs, broken bones, like you can And while some people were able to run life and run to safety, some didn't make it.

[00:08:17]There's this story of a woman, I think a widow, that was accused of witchcraft.

[00:08:23]Then her father-in-law stood up for her and said, "My daughter-in-law is not a witch." He stood up for her, chased everyone away, and insisted that his daughter-in-law is not a witch.

[00:08:35]And everybody left.

[00:08:37]Guess what?

[00:08:39]In the middle of the night, while everyone slept, some group of people went to that woman's house, locked the door, and set it ablaze.

[00:08:56]When you look closely, you will start to notice that most of these women that are always accused are people who do not have anybody to defend them.

[00:09:09]Elderly women, widowed women, you know, women with no strong family protection.

[00:09:15]So, the question is, is this really about witchcraft?

[00:09:20]Belief in witchcraft is deeply rooted in many cultures across the world, not just Africa. For some communities, it is a way of explaining things that feels unexplainable.

[00:09:35]Things like loss, illness, misfortune, and when people are afraid, you know, something that they can't explain, something that is reoccurring, they start looking for answers. Like the story of the woman from my childhood, but sometimes those answers come at the expense of someone else.

[00:09:57]Life in these camps is not easy.

[00:10:01]These women are suffering. They are hungry.

[00:10:04]Saw a video of a woman, an elderly woman that was complaining about the limited food supply that they have and how they have to share it so that everybody can get something into it.

[00:10:18]There are limited resources like electricity. I didn't see any electricity in sight. No basic shelter.

[00:10:27]No basic shelter. About four people can share a small hut.

[00:10:33]Four women can share a small hut. I think they are four of them.

[00:10:39]They are four. They are four.

[00:10:40]>> So, how are they going to sleep here?

[00:10:42]They have to manage because there's no place again. Can't you see that how is it?

[00:10:46]Uh-huh. All right.

[00:10:48]Separation from family, social isolation. Some women stay there for years. So, for the rest of their lives.

[00:10:56]The longest I saw, they said she lived there for 41 years before she passed.

[00:11:01]And imagine imagine carrying that tag, that label, witch, for the rest of your life.

[00:11:10]A word that strips you of your identity and replaces it with fear.

[00:11:16]Because there is nobody you tell this person is a witch and the person will not think twice.

[00:11:21]The first thing that comes to that person's mind is fear. I am afraid of this person. I don't want to They say she's a witch. I don't want to go close.

[00:11:29]Yes, this is actress, this Nollywood actress. You guys, I never met this woman. I have never met this woman up till this day.

[00:11:36]But, I remember back in the day if I had seen that woman, I would run for my life. I was so scared of that woman just because of the roles that she played in movies. I was so scared of her. Now, imagine someone in real life being called a witch.

[00:11:52]And even if you integrate these women into the society, that's the mentality. How will people relate with them?

[00:12:02]I keep coming back TO THIS QUESTION.

[00:12:04]WHY is it almost always women?

[00:12:09]Where are the camps for men that were accused of, you know, the same thing?

[00:12:15]Or are there no wizards? Why does suspicion always have to choose the most vulnerable? Why?

[00:12:24]And this is something we've seen again and again in this series. To tell you the truth, I cry.

[00:12:31]I cry most of the time when putting these videos together, when making my research, and I'm seeing these things and wondering to myself imagine if it was me.

[00:12:45]Because I'm a woman, too.

[00:12:47]When society cannot explain something, it goes ahead to create a scapegoat. And very often that scapegoat is a woman. Now, this video is not about mocking belief systems, okay? But, at the detriment of another human, we will ask questions. At what point did belief become so harmful?

[00:13:11]Because a belief that isolates, removes dignity, and takes away someone's place in the society is no longer just belief. It becomes punishment.

[00:13:23]Now, it is important to say that activists organizations, even local leaders in Ghana working to close these camps and reintegrate these women back into the society. But, when will that happen?

[00:13:40]When?

[00:13:41]I even heard there were some people that were sent sometime back to go see if this can be possible, but were stopped by the locals. And I honestly don't get it. I honestly don't get how these traditions are now above the law.

[00:13:58]Anyway, we'll continue creating this awareness until hopefully change comes.

[00:14:03]We have to join our voices, honestly.

[00:14:06]Because imagine being forced to leave your home, your family, your friends, like people you grew up with, people you already know, just to go start life all over after how many years on earth, not because of what you did, but because of what people believe about you.

[00:14:27]No evidence. And you don't get to defend yourself. Just other people deciding your fate. So, when we talk about culture and tradition, we have to talk about the role people play.

[00:14:38]Because no woman should have to live in exile just to stay alive.

[00:14:43]And no belief should ever have to cost another person their humanity.

[00:14:48]And that brings us to the end of today's video. A lot more videos are coming, and you don't want to miss any of it. Thank you so much for watching. If you're coming across this channel for the first time, my name is Cassie, and over here we have real conversations. And I'm making deep dive commentary videos about women in general. Please go ahead and give this video a thumbs up. Share, join in creating this awareness, and subscribe if you haven't. I will definitely see you in my next video.

[00:15:16]Bye, guys.

[00:15:20]>> [music]