ÅSA SJÖSTRÖM, SWEDEN
GHANA: CHILDREN OF WITCHES
Some African regions are stuck in a vicious circle of violence in combination with economic, social and climate changes that leaves many inhabitants scared and distressed. As a result, they look for explanations for phenomena they do no’t understand, such as failed harvests, stolen cattle, dried-up wells, malicious diseases, impotence, sudden wealth or severe poverty in the surrounding area. Superstition makes it easy for them to find the real culprits: witches.
In 2011, Swedish photographer Åsa Sjöström met a group of women who were stigmatized as witches and had to live in a camp without water and electricity in Northern Ghana. They had to flee here because they were frequently defamed, beaten and threatened with death.
Even children are being accused of witchcraft. UNICEF supports self-help groups and local organizations in their work to educate people and thereby set an end to this kind of persecution.
© Åsa Sjöström/Moment Agency
Curriculum Vitae: Åsa Sjöström
