Elsevier

Social Science & Medicine

Volume 59, Issue 11, December 2004, Pages 2373-2385
Social Science & Medicine

Violence against women in Ghana: a look at women's perceptions and review of policy and social responses

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2004.04.001Get rights and content

Abstract

This study examines violence against women in Ghana and how it affects and is perceived by them. It looks at violence as experienced by Ghanaian women of varying ages, socio-economic status and professional standing. It defines domestic violence as violence intentionally perpetrated by husbands or male partners—people known to be intimate associates. Domestic violence is approached from a multidimensional perspective by examining the multiple facets of violence against women: sexual, socio-economic, cultural, pseudo-religious and mental torture. Women's perceptions of their rights, responsibilities, duties and abuses or violations are evaluated using open-ended qualitative questions in two major cities in Ghana: Accra and Kumasi. Policy responses to domestic violence are then examined by first reviewing what provisions exist in the country's constitution to address the problem and then the specific steps the government itself has taken. Civil society's response in the form of activities by non-governmental organizations is also reviewed. Finally, the effects of domestic violence on women's health and well-being are examined and suggestions for addressing the problem are made.

Introduction

Violence against women has gained worldwide currency in both advanced and deprived economies due to its pervasive and debilitating nature. In the west, many studies and analyses of violence against women have been reported (Schafer, Caetano, & Cunradi, 2004, Carter & Weaver, 2003; Brownridge & Halli, 2002; Clark, 1992; Cunningham, 1992; Schlesinger, Dobash, Dobash, & Weaver, 1992; Cameron & Frazer, 1987). Similar studies have been conducted in non-western societies as well (Casimiro, 2002; Farred, 2002; Haj-Yahia, 2002; Aidoo & Harpham, 2001; Avotri & Walters, 2001; Jewkes, 2001). The situation is no different in Ghana where statistics show that one in three women has suffered physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner (Appiah & Cusack, 1999). Annual reported cases of violence against women rose steeply from 360 in 1999 to 3622 in 2002 (WAJU, 2003), an indication that the problem, or awareness of it, is on the ascendancy and requires attention. In fact, between January 1999 and December 2002, the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Ghana Police Service (WAJU) recorded a total of 5015 cases out of which 1869 were of assault/wife battering. The other categories of cases were as follows: 749 were of threatening; 1072 of defilement; 249 of rape; and 57 cases of causing harm. What is worrisome is the exponential growth in the total number of cases reported to WAJU: 360 in 1999; 385 in 2000; 648 in 2001; and 3622 in 2002.

Physical spousal abuse, some with fatal consequences, has become a daily occurrence in Ghana as determined from media reports. The regularity of these occurrences resulted in the establishment of WAJU in 1998 as a specialized unit with responsibility for handling crimes against women and children. WAJU (2003) defines the wide array of violent acts committed against women as including rape, defilement, assault/battery, threatening, and causing harm. To these can be added murder and psychological abuse of women, which are handled differently and not reported to WAJU. Despite laudable attempts to combat this menace, the violation of women's rights, both physically and psychologically, has continued, with more reported cases of spousal violence across all strata of the Ghanaian society (WAJU, 2003).

In spite of sharp increases in incidence, the issue of violence against women has received only minimal systematic research attention in Ghana. The present study thus seeks to help redress this. We look at the nature of violence against women in Ghana and relate it to some existing cultural practices, including gender role differentiations that tend to perpetuate it. We then review Ghanaian women's perceptions of violence vis-à-vis their rights as women and citizens of Ghana by presenting the results of in-depth interviews conducted with a sample of women. We also examine policy and institutional responses to the increasing incidence of violence against women from governmental and non-governmental organizations and present suggestions for improving the situation.

Section snippets

Definitions and dimensions of violence: an overview

As a concept, violence is easier to identify and point to than to define (Potter, 1999); its susceptibility to the influence of culture, time, geography and space results in a varying definition. The World Health Organization (WHO) report on violence and health defines violence as the “intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death,

Nature of violence against women in Ghana

The list of violations of women's rights in Ghana is extensive and shows the different faces and character of violence against women. It includes offences categorized under physical assault, sexual assault, and murder inflicted by intimate partners (WAJU, 2003). Violence against women in Ghana also manifests in emotional, psychological and economic terms as well as through certain cultural practices (Appiah & Cusack, 1999). Acts of violence perpetuated through culture include the following:

  • (a)

Selection of interview respondents

Semi-structured individual in-depth interviews were conducted with 50 educated Ghanaian women to explore their views of and reactions to violence against women. The respondents neither worked for, nor belonged to, any human rights or gender-related advocacy organization such as the ones mentioned in the study. These include the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Ghana Police Service (WAJU), the International Federation of Women

Interview results

Responses from the interviews are presented under five subheadings in this section while findings of the documentary analysis are presented as policy and social responses from governmental and non-governmental organizations in the subsequent section.

Government's responses to violence against women

Interventions initiated at combating violence against women in Ghana have come from both governmental and non-governmental sources and have aimed at both prevention and cure. They deal with cases of violence mainly through legislation, education, awareness creation, counseling, investigation and prosecution of offenders. Chapter five of Ghana's constitution extensively outlines fundamental human rights and freedoms of all citizens of Ghana and specific rights to be enjoyed by women in addition.

Civil society's response to violence against women

Social responses and interventions to violence against women have been initiated principally at the level of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There are a number of NGOs and civil society organizations as well as networks and coalitions in Ghana working in the area of human and women's rights to stamp out abuse and violence against women and children. They include the mass media, the Ghana branch of the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA—Ghana), the Women's Initiative for Self

Discussion

The results of the study indicate that educated, employed and married women in Ghana experience domestic violence including physical violence although many of the types of violence reported fell within the category classified as less severe (Jewkes, Levin, & Penn-Kekana, 2002). Respondents described physical violence they suffered to include grabbing, pushing/shoving, slapping, hitting, kicking and beating. The psychological violence that was reported included mainly insults, threats, criticism

Conclusion

The study sought to answer questions about Ghanaian women's perceptions of violence perpetrated against them by their husbands and responses from government and civil society. The results of our field interviews and documentary analysis show that physical assault by husbands is considered “normal”. This makes most women shy away from discussing or reporting such happenings. Physical assault only becomes an offence when it results in injury or death. However, depending on the background of the

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    Currently doctoral student at: Centre for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester, UK

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