More women needed in Parliament for stronger protection against domestic violence
In the last few days, social media platforms have been featuring images of victims of reported post-election violence following last Friday’s declaration of the election results.
Advertisement
Among some of the more graphic pictures is one of a bruised woman purported to be from Akyem New Tafo Zongo in the Abuakwa North Constituency whose husband beat her up for going out to celebrate the victory of the winning party.
The picture is just one of several reminders that despite the fact that Ghana passed a law on domestic violence as far back as 2007, women, especially, continue to suffer abuse from intimate partners. Indeed, recent media stories leave us in little doubt that violence against women and children is still very rife in Ghana, with devastating, sometimes fatal consequences for victims.
Some of the stomach-churning headlines on women who have lost their lives in Ghana this year include: “Man kills wife over banku without fish”; “Man kills wife for denying him sex”; “Man kills wife and 7-year-old child”; “Man kills wife in acid attack”; “Man beats wife to death; “Man rapes ex-wife on farm…butchers her and commits suicide.”
Victims of domestic violence
We have a law on domestic violence (DV) in this country but obviously much more needs to be done to secure the well-being and save the lives of survivors and victims of DV. The legislative instrument (DV Regulations 2016, LI 2237) to strengthen implementation of the law was just passed this year, almost 10 years later.
The LI will not necessarily stop domestic violence from ever occurring but it will improve the provision and coordination of services needed by domestic violence survivors and save more victims at risk of harm and death from people with whom they are in a domestic relationship.
Providing strong protective services for survivors is a crucial element in tackling domestic violence more forcefully. Unfortunately, Ghana’s protection services are weak when compared to other countries.
In a comparative study undertaken in Ghana and Mexico, for example, researchers found that though both countries had passed DV laws around the same time, they had taken quite divergent paths in their implementation of these laws. Mexico’s protective services for survivors of domestic violence are far more comprehensive than that of Ghana.
The study was conducted by the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), University of Ghana, as part of the DFID-supported ELLA Project (Evidence and Lessons from Latin America).
The evidence from the research showed that Mexico had established 72 shelters where DV survivors could access coordinated legal, medical, psychological, training and financial support. Ghana has set up only two shelters, which provide only limited and uncoordinated services. Also, in Mexico, both state and non-state actors work together to deliver the range of services needed to provide strong protection for survivors with funding from the government and international sources.
Support services
In Ghana, while some support services are provided, not only are they not always available, there is little funding from government, making us heavily reliant on international donor agencies for money to execute our domestic violence programmes.
Since donor agencies are much more interested in advocacy work than on service provision, there is little money for services such as shelters that help survivors recover from domestic violence.
Shelters are facilities designed to shield survivors from their abusers and prevent future harm while offering opportunities for rehabilitation. When survivors find violence unacceptable they tend to seek the services of a shelter, especially when the abuse is sexual and the perpetrator is a family member.
Until this year, Ghana had only one shelter, owned and run by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) – the Helpers Foundation, which struggles to secure funding to keep it going.
Gender institutionalisation
Researchers argue that the gap between what is on offer to DV survivors in Mexico vis-à-vis Ghana can be explained by the differing levels of gender institutionalisation in the two countries, particularly the ability of female parliamentarians to successfully push for women-friendly legislation, policies, institutions etc.
The study found that countries that have high levels of gender institutionalisation do not just pass bills; they ensure proper implementation. Governments of such countries show political commitment by putting in place the institutional and financial frameworks that make implementation of social legislation possible.
So, for example, in Mexico, the government has set up various institutions with a specific focus on addressing domestic violence issues from a human rights perspective. Ghana, on the other hand, is still struggling with gender institutionalisation despite having a ministry devoted to gender and social protection issue.
But perhaps, the most intriguing reason researchers argue Ghana lags behind Mexico is the number of female parliamentarians each country has. They argue that Mexico has a much higher level of symbolic and substantive female representation in parliament than Ghana, to drive the DV agenda.
Women in Parliament
In 2007, when the Domestic Violence Law was passed, 23.2 per cent of parliamentarians in Mexico were women compared with an abysmal 10 per cent in Ghana.
Female parliamentarians in Mexico thus had the numbers to drive women’s interests in legislative processes. For example, they entered into a pact in which they agreed to vote in favour of laws that benefited women, regardless of their personal political persuasions.
They also worked in collaboration with Mexico’s Gender Equality Commission to push for gender budgeting in government systems, leading to the allocation of state funds to the various institutions implementing the domestic violence law. Such strategic actions did not happen in Ghana where there are far fewer female representatives in Parliament.
Are things likely to change now that we are going to have a new government and new Parliament?
Well, we have just voted in six more women than in the current Parliament, with 29 women, inching the percentage of women in the 275-member Parliament from 10 per cent to 12 per cent. That is a far cry from Mexico’s 23 per cent and nowhere near the kind of critical mass required to muscle the clout for gender-related change. Still, if the women’s caucus in Parliament, regardless of party affiliation, joins forces and works closely with the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, which is focused on protecting women, children and the vulnerable in our society, there is no reason why Ghana cannot strengthen protective services for survivors of domestic violence.
With strong political will we can stop women and children from dying at the hands of their so-called loved ones.