E/CN.4/2002/73/Add.2 page 41 1. Prostitution and practices related to slavery 160. Considered the oldest profession in the world, prostitution can to a large extent be also regarded as a practice stemming from a negative cultural portrayal of the image of women and their denigration in society. Notwithstanding their religious and cultural diversity, States are endeavouring to combat this scourge either by banning it—at least formally—or by regulating it in an attempt to control it. Yet prostitution has always been tolerated by the State, which views it as a way or preserving the family and maintaining social order.228 Practised in the name of cultural or religious beliefs in several countries, prostitution is especially injurious to women’s dignity. (a) Deuki 161. The custom of deuki or “temple prostitution” has its origins in the sacrificial tradition of dedicating girls to the god or goddess of a temple and making them sacred prostitutes. Although banned, it is still practised, notably in Nepal.229 (b) Devadasi 162. The system of devadasi (“maidservant of the deity”), a variant of deuki, is a curious blend of the sacred and the profane. It became established in southern India some 1,500 years ago and is believed to have also existed at the time of Hammurabi.230 Girls are pledged for life to temples at an early age by parents in return for heavenly favours and to placate the gods.231 It is practised in Asian countries, in particular India.232 The girls are later forced into prostitution either out of economic necessity or after being sold by priests to brothels (E/CN.4/1997/47). A similar custom, badi, is the ethnic practice of forcing young girls to become prostitutes. It exists in Nepal (A/54/38/Rev.1, p. 60, para. 153). (c) Ritual slavery 163. The practice of trokosi (“slaves of the gods” in the Ewe language) is an ancient custom of ritualistic enslavement and sexual bondage, according to which girls are given to a deity (although in fact to a shrine’s fetish priest, who exploits them as agricultural workers or sex slaves) as a way of appeasing the gods for crimes committed by members of the girl’s family. The victims are thus condemned by their families to atone for the sins of others. Practised by the Ewe and Adangbe ethnic groups in African countries, especially Ghana,233 such slavery was recently declared illegal under the new Criminal Code of Ghana of 12 June 1998, which prohibits any rite whose purpose is to subject a person to any form of ritual or customary servitude or related forced labour.234 164. It should, however, be noted that the original purpose of trokosi was not to enslave girls. It appears to have initially been used to train virgin girls to lead spiritual and noble lives so that they preserved their virginity until marriage, the practice having originally been institutionalized to regulate the moral life of young girls and ensure the well-being of society. But, over the years, the actual purpose of trokosi seems to have been abused by trokosi priests, who diverted this ancient practice from its initial objectives to satisfy their own interests and instincts.235 Many NGOs have succeeded in freeing girls from the trokosi system in Ghana but there is apparently