The U.S. recently has faced tremendous pressure to assist in the alleviation efforts of Trokosi, along with the detrimental effects it imposes on its victims, as they could provide asylum for those escaping enslavement in Ghana. Some politicians refuse to approach the issue of Trokosi because of the fear of insulting or offending West African culture and creating racial or cultural controversy, with the imposition of outside imperialistic reigns, that some may argue as ethnocentric. The Refugee Act of 1980 allows individuals to apply for U.S. asylum if they cannot to return to a country due to “persecution, or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular group or political opinion.”
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Fiadjoe served as a slave for her father, a priest, since the age of seven, despite an eleven-year relief period, enduring various forms of violence, sexual abuse, and forced labor. The Immigration Police detained Fiadjoe once she entered the U.S. under an alias and sent her to a Pennsylvania Prison, where she awaited trial for her pending asylum application. Instead, the U.S., including the Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals, denied her asylum in 2002, claiming that her emotional, inconsistent, and unclear testimony did not meet the Real Act’s standards, and concluded that she ultimately lied about the abuse she claimed to endure. They refused to consider important, affective factors, such as that she did not speak English well andendured emotional trauma throughout this process, including insensitive questioning at trial. The court ultimately ruled that it “will not find that a Trokosi slave constitutes a particular social group, insofar as it is rather a miniscule part of the general population of Ghana,” referring to this practice as rather a “cult.” However, this statement violates U.S. asylum law, in which the harm itself, not the number of people inflicted by the harm, must base the rulings. The courts also denied further motions filed by Fiadjoe in 2003 and 2004 to …show more content…
Therefore, institutional forces must conduct efforts that ultimately prevent and eliminate individuals’ susceptibility of becoming a Trokosi within these systems, as well as ones that combat the oppressive practices themselves with the replacement of lawful and humane approaches to facilitate debt and crimes committed. There must be easy access to rehabilitation services designated to help nurture former Trokosi back into society, along with other opportunities to acquire an education and employment, in order to decrease the damaging effects of Trokosi stigmatization and these women’s chances of being reenslaved. This ultimately may also help reduce the likelihood of future generations of women becoming enslaved through the passing of this knowledge because “when people can recognize the trap of bondage, know their rights as citizens, understand the strength of their community, and find new ways to earn their living,” they are less vulnerable to slavery.” Ultimate liberation and termination of Trokosi, along with other slave systems, involves “a process, and not an event.” This process remains vital
Fiadjoe served as a slave for her father, a priest, since the age of seven, despite an eleven-year relief period, enduring various forms of violence, sexual abuse, and forced labor. The Immigration Police detained Fiadjoe once she entered the U.S. under an alias and sent her to a Pennsylvania Prison, where she awaited trial for her pending asylum application. Instead, the U.S., including the Immigration Judge and the Board of Immigration Appeals, denied her asylum in 2002, claiming that her emotional, inconsistent, and unclear testimony did not meet the Real Act’s standards, and concluded that she ultimately lied about the abuse she claimed to endure. They refused to consider important, affective factors, such as that she did not speak English well andendured emotional trauma throughout this process, including insensitive questioning at trial. The court ultimately ruled that it “will not find that a Trokosi slave constitutes a particular social group, insofar as it is rather a miniscule part of the general population of Ghana,” referring to this practice as rather a “cult.” However, this statement violates U.S. asylum law, in which the harm itself, not the number of people inflicted by the harm, must base the rulings. The courts also denied further motions filed by Fiadjoe in 2003 and 2004 to …show more content…
Therefore, institutional forces must conduct efforts that ultimately prevent and eliminate individuals’ susceptibility of becoming a Trokosi within these systems, as well as ones that combat the oppressive practices themselves with the replacement of lawful and humane approaches to facilitate debt and crimes committed. There must be easy access to rehabilitation services designated to help nurture former Trokosi back into society, along with other opportunities to acquire an education and employment, in order to decrease the damaging effects of Trokosi stigmatization and these women’s chances of being reenslaved. This ultimately may also help reduce the likelihood of future generations of women becoming enslaved through the passing of this knowledge because “when people can recognize the trap of bondage, know their rights as citizens, understand the strength of their community, and find new ways to earn their living,” they are less vulnerable to slavery.” Ultimate liberation and termination of Trokosi, along with other slave systems, involves “a process, and not an event.” This process remains vital