When a priest dies, his trokosi are passed on to his successor. According to International Needs Ghana, a human rights organization working for the release and rehabilitation of trokosi , the practice may have its origins in war and the role of gods in ensuring victory. At times in the past when men went to war they visited religious shrines for fortification and vowed to give women to the shrines if they came back alive. It is also said that girls were given to the shrines to solicit the help of the gods in having children. The initiation rituals of the trokosi signify marriage to a god and its proxy, the priest.
Rituals performed by the trokosi include kneeling by the priest at the shrine, clapping and singing.
The girls are also responsible for fetching the sacred water used at the shrine. Other duties to the priest include domestic chores such as cooking and washing, as well as farming. After the onset of menstruation, the bondage of trokosi is sexual as well. It is common to find trokosi with ten to fifteen children. The trokosi are denied access to education and other training.