A Film by Zoe Young with Saskia Evans and Andrea Cuadrado. "I don’t want to be here. Somebody decided I was a witch. Now my heart is dead – what I used to know, I don’t know any more…" Yadu Masam, Ngani ‘Witches’ Camp’, Ghana, 2010. What becomes of women accused of witchcraft? Who can stop the burning? How to educate the ignorant, heal the fearful and end the isolation and abuse of some of vulnerable people? In many parts of the world, magic and spirits are everywhere. One consequence is that physical illness, death and misfortune may be blamed on supernatural intervention. A feeling that events are spinning out of control can fuel violence towards scapegoats. Victims are often ‘outsiders’ of some kind, be they old, mentally ill, disabled, infertile or even just outspoken women. Given culturally appropriate education and concerted government action, might the real witchhunts be stopped? In this half hour film, West African women’s empowerment coordinator Zenabu Sakibu hears the heart-breaking stories of accused 'witches' in Ghana’s Northern Region, and challenges her nation to step up….
