True stories of God's love and faithfulness for the broken and abused. A couple of years ago I was shocked to find out that little virgin girls, under the age of nine, are given to fetish priests to serve horrific lives as slaves, to atone for the crimes or sins of another family member. They are beaten, raped, starved and overworked. No affection or kindness is allowed and they live with no hope of ever being freed, as they are isolated from anyone who offers help. Ruled by forces that control them, they live in fear. The stories in this book are told by trokosis who have been liberated through the help of International Needs, and liberated from their fear and suffering by their new found love and faith in Jesus. Linda M. Gillard is the author of Trokosi-Slave of the gods. The author recently traveled to West Africa to gather information on the ancient practice of trokosi, and to interview liberated slaves who now live as free women. It was an unforgettable experience for the author and needed to be told. The culture of enslaving little girls is shrouded in secrecy and is still carried on today. It is estimated that over 30,000 women and children are still enslaved in West Africa.

The first mention of the word "Trokosi can be traced to the work of A. B. Ellis in 1890 writing on the topic of "Priesthood" in "The Ewe Speaking People of the Gold Coast." As far back as the early 1900s a protest letter was submitted by a native of the Gold Coast to the Colonial Secretary of Native Affairs calling for an end to a practice that marginalized, dehumanized and treated young virgins as slaves "consecrated" to the gods. Unfortunately in 2009 the fight still continues. The authors bring light to an issue greatly in need of critical scrutiny. This book poignantly elucidates firsthand accounts of the voices of the Trokosi victims, the geographical spread of the practice, interrogates the social context in which the practice thrives, traces the travailing journeys of the victims, discusses the liberation efforts and rehabilitation programs, examines the role of civil society in confronting the system and closes with the tensions within the discourses that support or reject the Trokosi system.

This book was first published in 2010. Madison presents the neglected yet compelling and necessary story of local activists in South Saharan Africa who employ modes of performance as tactics of resistance and intervention in their day-to-day struggles for human rights. The dynamic relationship between performance and activism are illustrated in three case studies: Act One presents a battle between tradition and modernity as the bodies of African women are caught in the cross-fire. Act Two focuses on 'water democracy' as activists fight for safe, accessible public water as a human right. Act Three examines the efficacy of street performance and theatre for development in the oral histories of Ghanaian gender activists. Unique to this book is the continuing juxtaposition between the everyday performances of local activism and their staged enactments before theatre audiences in Ghana and the USA. Madison beautifully demonstrates how these disparate sites of performance cohere in the service of rights, justice, and activism.

They are laborers, soldiers, refugees, and orphans. In areas of the world torn by poverty, disease, and war, millions of children are invisible victims, deprived of home, family, and basic human rights. Their chances for a stable adult life are extremely slim. The powerful interdisciplinary volume Vulnerable Children brings a global child-rights perspective to the lives of indigenous, refugee, and minority children in and from crisis-prone regions. Focusing on self-determination, education, security, health, and related issues, an international panel of scholars examines the structural and political sources of children's vulnerabilities and their effects on development. The book analyzes intervention programs currently in place and identifies challenges that must be met at both the community and larger policy levels. These chapters also go a long way to explain the often-blurred line between vulnerability and resilience. Included in the coverage: Dilemmas of rights-based approaches to child well-being in an African cultural context. Poverty and minority children’s education in the U.S.: case study of a Sudanese refugee family. The heterogeneity of young children’s experiences in Kenya and Brazil. A world tour of interventions for children of a parent with a psychiatric illness. An exploration of fosterage of Owambo orphans in Namibia. UNICEF in Colombia: defending and nurturing childhood in media, public, and policy discourses. Vulnerable Children is a must-have volume for researchers, graduate students, and clinicians/professionals/practitioners across a range of fields, including child and school psychology, social work, maternal and child health, developmental psychology, anthropology, sociology, social policy, and public health.

Criminology is an established discipline, yet non-Western criminology is still relatively ignored in the literature. Drawing upon materials from countries in Africa, the Caribbean, North and South America, and Europe, this stimulating book reflects on the experiences of people of African descent to offer a convergence of criminologies in and outside the West.

This text highlights key aspects of the religion/church-state relationship/debate, and related hitherto marginal topics. The contributions make clear that there is no clear blueprint for an optimal relationship between religion/church and state. Individual states and countries are analysed on the granular level for example, to address mono-religious against poly-religious as well as secular societies. Among others, chapters address education, migration and politics against religion as well as the effect of LGBTQ+ communities on religion and societies. This collected volume appeals to researchers, and students working in religious studies and political science.