Localising human rights: the implications for advocating for alleged witches' rights in Ghana

Using qualitative research from 2021 and 2022, I examine the friction between externally driven and community-rooted responses to witchcraft-related violence in Ghana, exploring how these dynamics shape the localisation of NGO interventions. I demonstrate that while embracing “local ways of being” can ease tensions between human rights ideas and local cultural norms, enhance legitimacy and cooperation among NGOs, and local communities, their rational legal view of witchcraft accusations still struggles to engage with the deeply held cultural beliefs. Localisation, therefore, risks weakening human rights standards when harmful practices are culturally entrenched, complicating efforts to achieve social justice as long as these practices are embedded in Western-influenced worldviews. However, sidelining local views may produce unintended consequences as communities tend to prefer local approaches. This highlights how deeply rooted power imbalances between traditional and Eurocentric knowledge systems can shape development practice.