Speak Truth to Power Project

My STTP Defender was activist Juliana Dogbadzi. She speaks out about slavery/trafficking and a religious slavery known as Trokosi. I learned that she was originally a Trokosi slave from Ghana, and that when she successful escaped when she was seventeen, she began to rescue other slaves as well. For those who don’t know, Trokosi known as “Slave of the Gods,” is a religious servitude where families send their young virgin daughters (eight-ten year olds) for past crimes of relatives to be slaves for the holy man in the country. They would be force to cook and clean without any pay, breaks or food, given no proper clothing, as well as be used for sexual services. If the women were to become pregnant it was no excuse to be pardon for their chores or given extra food. Also if any of the women acted up they were beaten or killed. Pretty scary, right? So once she escaped Juliana tried to get others, but most were too scared to go. When she became old enough to speak out about it and be protected by America organizations, she was able to have girls and women freed by trading with the holy men; money for the women/girls. Over the past decade she has freed over thousands of young girls and women, and even got the practice to be banned in Ghana in 1999; however law enforcement against Trokosi is still lax. Juliana continues to speak out against Trokosi, traveling the country, meeting with slaves, and trying to win their emancipation. Today her groups of fighters are steadily increasing; she is not alone in her courageous stance against Trokosi.