The Domestic Violence Debate in Ghana

October 1, 2006

Author: Dishpaul S. Dhuga

In August, I was fortunate to meet with Rev. Alice Kyei-Anti from Ghana.  I was introduced to Alice by a colleague, Lois Wilson, co-chair of the Committee on Ghana, Westminister Presbyterian Church in Albany.  Lois assists West African immigrant women who are survivors of domestic violence in the Capital Region community.  Lois’ special guest from Ghana had just completed five years as the first woman to serve as a Presbyterian Chairperson in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.  Alice led 86 congregations with over 15,000 members.  Alice’s career has centered around issues affecting the dignity of women and children of Ghana.  She has worked as a social worker, as a hospital Chaplin, trained to be a mid-wife, and served for 10 years as Director of the Women’s Program for the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.  I met with both Alice and Lois to talk about the Domestic Violence Bill that has stirred much debate in Ghana, and the social implications of this bill for women of the region. 

Ghana, situated on the west coast of Africa, is one of the least developed countries in the world.  Ghana is home to over 21 million people, with well over 50% being women.  According to Mr. Adolf Awuku, Coordinator of Domestic Violence Coalition, one out of every three women in Ghana has suffered some form of domestic violence with 90% of the perpetrators being men.  (General News, 11/02/05 from www.ghanaweb.com)  He also indicated that, like everywhere else, perpetrators of domestic violence included both the educated and uneducated and the victims were also from both  categories.  Domestic violence constitutes major human rights abuse in Ghana, however, it does not receive enough attention because it is treated as a private matter.  The title “domestic violence” denotes violence at a domestic level, which is often brushed aside as a private and non-serious family matter.  It sounds very much like the early debates in this country when we first got serious about confronting domestic violence as a societal - and criminal issue.
 
Alice talked to me about some barriers that women victims of domestic violence face in Ghana.  There are 10 regions, according to Alice, that follow Tribal Law, and each region has their own culture and law.  Therefore, attempting to produce and implement a region-wide domestic violence law can be extremely difficult.  It is traditional to keep women in silence within these tribal communities, and when situations do arise in the home, chiefs and the elders are often given power to solve the family conflicts.  This in turn further privatizes domestic violence and keeps it hidden, away from local authorities such as courts and police.  There exists a stigma to bring men to court because of the private ideology of domestic violence, and because of the notion of “man as the breadwinner.”  In fact, when men are confronted with violence against their wives, they are merely made to apologize and compensate the victim instead of being punished or rehabilitated for their actions.  Alice gave me an example where a man might be ordered by the Tribal leader to give eggs or fowl to the victim, then cook and eat it together as a form of apology.

I asked Alice what types of organizations and safe houses existed for victims of domestic violence in Ghana.  Legal Aid-type offices do exist in Ghana, however, not everyone knows of their existence so they are often under utilized.  There are also shelters available for victims of domestic violence, but not many.  Alice’s recommendations include education to girls at a young age about the social concerns and implications of domestic violence, and education to the general public about the dynamics of domestic violence and the services available.                

Ghana has recognized human rights issues facing its population and is attempting to solve the many problems that women in particular face.  For example, Ghana ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1986.  (www.ghanaweb.com)  Gender issues have received considerable attention as a result of national efforts to implement the International Conference on Population and Development Programme of Action and the Platform for Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (known also as the Beijing Platform of Action).  (Id.)  Under these initiatives, certain harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation, have been outlawed.  The Ghanaian Parliament passed the Children’s Bill, which raised the minimum age of marriage from 16 to 18 years.  (Id.)  The Government has adopted Affirmative Action Policy Guidelines which call for an increase to 40 percent of the representation of women in key positions in public service and in national executive or policy-making institutions.  (Id.) 

Despite these moves forward, the Domestic Violence Bill in Ghana has produced significant debate.  On one side, women rights advocates are lobbying government to pass the bill which would criminalize violence against women.  In opposition, other groups argue the bill would lead to broken marriages and broken homes.  “…if husbands who are the sole breadwinners of the family are prosecuted and jailed, their families would suffer financial hardships.” 

The issue of marital rape has also caused much debate.  Part II under the Protection Orders of the bill states that “the court may prohibit a person from forcing the applicant to engage in any sexual contact whether married or not or engaging in any sexual contact that abuses, humiliates or degrades the applicants or otherwise violates the applicants sexual integrity whether married or not.”  (Martin Luther Otu, Dangbe West DCE says Domestic Violence is not just family matter, 09/22/03 from www.ghanaweb.com) 
 
The Ghanaian Commissioner For Human Rights and Administrative Justice Emile Short, believes the problem is deeply rooted in marriage.  He argues that in all parts of Ghana, the transfer of bridal wealth from one family to the other under customary marriage tends to reduce women from active participants to passive recipients.  (Id)  “In Ghanaian society where bride price is unsympathetically high, the man after painfully paying this price is likely to treat the wife more as a possession than a partner in marriage.”  (Id) 

The Ghana Domestic Violence bill has yet to pass and the country has no specific laws that address domestic violence, no clear process for how victims should report it or how law enforcement agencies should handle these cases  However there is hope.  There are women’s rights groups that promote human rights of women in Ghana and in Africa.  The main goal is to advance women’s rights in Ghana by building alliances between lawyers, law professionals, law students and women judges to use both judicial and legislative avenues to address breaches of women’s human rights.  Justice Short believes that since patriarchy cannot be eradicated completely in an instant, strengthening the institutions such as the judiciary, police and  service providers would be a better way of dealing with the problem.  (Id) 

Justice Short believes that the country should immediately join the international community in the fight to eliminate domestic violence by enacting clear guidelines for the prevention, investigation and punishment of perpetrators.  (Id)  It would be extremely valuable for Ghana to pass the Domestic Violence Bill to show the world that it is serious in the fight against domestic violence.  More importantly, women of Ghana need the protections proposed by the Domestic Violence Bill to empower themselves and the younger generation.