Westermann (1905) records trɔxovi as 'one consecrated to the service of the deity (trɔ)', alongside trɔvi, a child requested from and dedicated to a deity. In the late 20th century the institution, usually called trokosi, became contested: critics, including NGOs such as International Needs, describe it as ritual or customary servitude of girls given to shrines in atonement for relatives' offences, while shrine priests and supporters of the Afrikania Mission defended it as a religious institution. Ghana's 1998 amendment to the Criminal Code banned 'customary servitude'.
The legal status of troxovi was debated in Ghana's Parliament in 1998.