Trokosi : Enslaving women into the 21st century

Still, think feminism is not necessary? Think again.

You know how you hear about something and you can immediately tell your life would never be the same again? Yep! That’s how I felt when I stumbled on this documentary and did some digging on the Trokosi System. Predominantly practised in Ghana, Togo and Benin, young girls are being torn away from their families and sacrificed at shrines to atone for the sins of the men in their family. No, you didn’t read that wrong; girls as young as five years old are given to the priests of these shrines as property where they get raped by these priests at the completion of their third menstrual cycle.

Forced to live and work for priests at a shrine as restitution for the sins of a relative, Brigitte Sossou Perenyi had her life sentence rescinded when a Christiane Amanpour documentary on the Trokosi system featured her twenty-one years ago and led to her release from the shrine.

This is her story, her journey and her way of breaking through into a life of freedom and reconciliation of her past with her present to embrace her future. To take all of her experiences and lead a conversation in hopes that some other young girls trapped in this system will also get the freedom she is blessed to now have.  Brigitte’s passion is to share her story to inspire and encourage others. Her hope is to start a dialogue that helps others recognise the potential of all girls trapped in harmful practices around the world. Like Brigitte, creating conducive environments for girls to realise their potentials is important for the growth and holistic development of a child. It is a basic right of every child and no one should deprive them of that.

Watch “My stolen childhood” here;

 

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