The Australian High Commissioner, Gregory Andrews has called for stakeholder collaboration to end violence against women accused of witchcraft.
According to him, elderly women deserve love and care from society rather than the shameful practice of wrongfully labelling them as witches.
H.E Gregory Andrews who was on a familiarization tour of the Northern Region, made a stop at the Gnani witches camp in the region to interact with the over one hundred women and men who are housed in the camp.
He said he wanted to understand why such practices are being encouraged within the community hence his visit.
“The abuse of people as witches is inhumane, and it is un-Ghanaian. That’s why I’m here today, I want to understand first-hand and I want to show my love and compassion to these elderly women who remind me of my grandmother.”
Speaking to Citi News, the High Commissioner described the recent incident at Kafaba where a 90-year-old woman was lynched as inhumane and called on all to stand against such barbaric acts.
“I’m deeply concerned about the mistreatment of elderly women as so-called witches. When I first arrived in Ghana, I was heartbroken when I learned about 90-year-old women being beaten to death as so-called witches,” he said.
Mr. Andrews stated that his country is invested in protecting the rights of people, together with the Ghanaian government.
He added that as members of the United Nations, Ghana and Australia will work to protect the elderly against such attacks.
“The Australian government and Ghanaian government are opposed to the abuse of so-called witches, and so is the United Nations. Australia and Ghana are both members of the United Nations, and as members, we have a responsibility to protect people’s human rights. And abusing women and accusing them of being witches is abuse to their human rights.”