By Helena Selby
In Ghana, and many parts of the world, women see marriage as the ultimate achievement in their lives. When a woman gains the love and respect of a man, and marriage is proposed, it serves as the greatest pride and dignity of the woman, since a man has found some sought of virtue in her. However, when the woman reaches her prime, and sees no signs of appreciation of her looks and virtue from any man, it turns to be a disappointment and a form of disgrace, since society will have a negative perception about her.
In Ghana, when a woman is not married and is past her prime, society has the perception that men don't see her as being attractive and good for marriage, or she has a bad character. At times society concludes it is due to an evil omen/curse, thereby preventing any man from being attracted to her. A woman, who does not get married in her prime, loses all forms of respect that she has in society, is ridiculed and called all forms of names. A woman who is able to marry and have children is considered lucky and virtuous. Marriage is a good thing, but looking at how the idea of marriage is cherished by women, do they get the full benefit of it, especially in times of divorce or bigamy on the side of the man.
Marriage in Ghana
There are three types of marriage in Ghana, namely marriage by Ordinance, Customary and Religious, however, each tribe, when it comes to customary marriage, have their own ways of doing it. In the Akan way of marriage, the family of the woman decides what the man should present in order to take the woman as his wife - usually a bottle of schnapps and some amount of money does it all. When these items are accepted by the woman's family, then the woman becomes the wife of the man. A woman getting married is a sort of relief from some of her responsibilities, as the man has the responsibility of taking care of all her needs. The joy of every woman in a marriage is how loving a husband is, and how well the husband is able to take care of her.
Even though society assumes that a husband and wife are one flesh, when it comes to asset owning in the matrimonial home, surely, they say, it belongs to the man. It is a fact that property acquired by the man before marriage is his, however those acquired during the years of marriage is for both the man and woman. Even though this is the issue most times, women tend to get no share of the property acquired during the marriage, even though the law makes provision for this. This is because the man is the one who takes the woman from her parental home to his own, which becomes their matrimonial home.
In Ghana, it is the sole responsibility of the man to take care of every financial responsibility in the home, while the woman handles the domestic responsibilities. The woman can choose to help when there are financial crises out of her own free will. In this case, every property the man has before and during the marriage is considered his alone. The explanation being that the man was solely responsible for the finances in the home, and the woman, only the domestic responsibility, forgetting that the domestic responsibility of the woman, which is non-monetary, is counted as an occupation.
Divorce in Ghana
It very unfair that while marriage can be annulled in the case of marital unfaithfulness, in Ghana a woman can be divorced under customary law, on grounds of witchcraft, stealing and adultery, yet these are not grounds for a woman to divorce a man. If a man wants to divorce his wife, he demands from the family of the woman the dowry or items he presented to them for her hand in marriage. If the woman decides to divorce the man, the only thing she has to do is to send a bottle of schnapps to the family of the husband. The acceptance of the schnapps from the family of the woman, by the husband's family, is recognition of the divorce. The return of the schnapps by the woman's family, and the acceptance by the man's family, is considered a formal agreement to the divorce.
Laws protecting women
It is a good thing that the government has the interest of women at heart, even the passage of the Domestic Violence Act is a sign of true commitment to the protection of women. . In relation to women, laws have been passed over the years to improve their situation. These include marriage laws, intestate succession laws PNDC Law 111(1985), customary marriage, and divorce law PNDC law 112(1985). Amendments of the criminal code now contain consolidated criminal codes which have provisions to protect women from harmful traditional practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), and these provisions have also broadened protection against sexual violence. The Children's Act also protects children from early marriage.
Women and the law
According to the Women's Manifesto for 2008, in spite of the laws which are meant to protect women, they still continue to suffer bias and discrimination in Ghana. International human right instruments are not fully integrated and enforced within our national laws. In addition, the laws do not go far enough and fail to address the requirements of a comprehensive review of all national laws to ensure the repeal of discriminatory laws. Certain bills, such as the bill on property right, are yet to become law, although thirteen years have passed since the 1992 Constitution called for their passage. As a result, women continue to contend with discriminatory laws and practices in employment, marriage, divorce, and in access to resources such as land labour, capital and technology.
Furthermore, women continue to live with discrimination in relation to their rights and obligations in marriage, and the grounds for divorce. Practice such as polygamy, though lawful under customary and religious laws, are discriminatory and unconstitutional, and increases women's insecurity and vulnerability in married life. Men who are involved in the act of bigamy are not made to account for their actions, even though the criminal code makes such acts unlawful. Court decisions show that the laws governing the distribution of marital property during divorce do not sufficiently take account of women's non-monetary contribution to the acquisition of such property. There are limited or no access to legal processes, as a result of problems of cost and availability of service. The few women who are able to access the legal system find themselves dealing with an unduly formal and alienating environment.
Conclusion
Women are demanding that laws governing their rights be implemented, since it is meant for them and they as well need more rights to feel safe and accepted in the society they live in. If discrimination against women is not stopped, then campaigns about the rights women automatically will be of no use. It is about time certain laws such as the bill on property rights become law, just like the government has brought about the domestic violence act, it is the demand of women that this bill be passed.
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