Feminists’ perspectives as transformative levers in Ghana
Executive summary
Ghana is a multi-party, multi-ethnic and multi-religious state, which practices legal pluralism – a system which recognises customary law in addition to the constitution. Even though the constitution is superior to the customary law, most Ghanaians are subject to customary law, which discriminates against women. Women’s rights activism has a long history in Ghana spanning over a century. While feminists’ advocacy has made great gains, Ghana – like many other countries – is not likely to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which is gender equality, by 2030. Gender inequality persists due to the coexistence of gender-inequitable norms and the lax enforcement of the existing laws that protect women. Social norms and behaviours continue to impact opportunities and human potential, affecting health, education and productivity. There is little understanding of how local Ghanaian feminists have influenced past and recent transformative gender policies in Ghana. The goal of this study is to understand feminism in Ghana and how feminists’ experiences could be harnessed to achieve more gender transformative change. The study is part of the research project “Local Feminist Perspectives as Transformation Levers for Greater Gender Equality”. In partnership with IDOS, the German Institute of Development and Sustainability, the project explores the potential of local feminist perspectives to act as levers for transformative change for greater gender equality in Ghana, India and Ukraine. The aim of the study in Ghana is to explore and analyse contemporary local feminist perspectives (organising) in Ghana to demonstrate how they can be used as levers for transformative change for greater equality and sustainable development. The research questions that guided the study are:
i. How do existing socio-cultural norms and practices and the prevailing systemic/structural conditions prevent sustainable, gender-transformative policies?
ii. How have local feminist perspectives influenced past and recent gender-transformative policies in Ghana?
iii. How can local perspectives be used as transformative levers for sustainable development?
iv. Which alternative approaches to development processes can local feminist perspectives offer to target prevailing norms and practices?
The study was fully qualitative and cross-sectional involving 35 feminists and women’s rights advocates between the ages of 37 and 80+ years, with the majority (n=25) having over 20 years of experience and relevant postgraduate degrees. The findings of the study very much aligned with the theoretical framework selected for the study, the gender at work framework, which considers gender inequity as a phenomenon that traverses from formal to informal spaces, as well as individual to systemic/structural domains. Our results reveal a myriad of informal and exclusionary customary practices that infringe on the fundamental human rights of Ghanaian women. These practices are rooted in the patriarchal structures that normalise male dominance and control over women, shaping societal attitudes and behaviours toward women’s rights and autonomy. These exclusionary customary practices include the practice of bride price, widowhood rites, child marriage, female genital mutilation, and witch-hunting. Apart from the informal laws that discriminate against women, there are also gender inequalities that manifest in formal spaces. These forms of inequality are systemic and structural in nature. Instances of these are the lack of political will and delays in legislative instruments; the high turnover of responsible leaders; a lack of resources and state infrastructure to support women at the workplace; sexual harassment; labour discrimination due to women’s reproductive roles; the gender wage gap; and gender-blind policies and laws. Other IDOS Discussion Paper 6/2025 discriminatory practices that are apparent at the level of individual practices are those connected to inadequate access to resources and conscientisation. Further, the study revealed that feminists in Ghana utilise several strategies to improve gender equality. These include advocacy and lobbying; collaboration and coalition-building; enlisting non-feminist allies; generation of research and evidence; consultative meetings and dialogues; support for the drafting and review of instruments; monitoring the implementation of existing laws, and the subsequent review of passed laws. Some of the landmark achievements resulting from feminists’ work include the passage of the Domestic Violence Act (DV Act), the Land Act, and the Affirmative Action Gender Equity Act. Our results showed that feminists and women’s rights advocates were in general satisfied with the effectiveness of their outlined strategies and that they hoped to maintain them in the future. Feminists have encountered several challenges including declining funding, lack of support from political actors, and backlash. To sustain the work of feminists they call for the institutionalisation of intergenerational dialogues on gender and women’s issues, along with the intensification of the recruitment of non-feminist allies. They believe that these strategies would ensure both the continuity and effectiveness of the movement in driving change. The following policy recommendations are made based on the insights of this study:
i. A key challenge reported by participants was the waning funding for feminists/CSO (civilsociety organisation) activities. Considering that the advocacy activities of feminists such as lobbying, capacity-building, meetings and sensitisation measures require logistics, it is important that the state commits funds to their activities in a sustainable way. The government should set up a research fund where a percentage of the country’s GDP will be deposited: Feminists could apply for available funding to conduct research into women’s inequality issues. Findings from these studies could in turn inform policy on women’s inequality issues. Advocacy by feminists in Ghana for local gender-transformative policies and laws is based on the realisation of international human rights provisions. The evidence shows that success requires persistence and the constant rallying of feminists around specific bills and policies over many years. Hence, development partners should support the core funding for women’s rights organisations as well as creating a funding cycle to support women’s rights organising and activities surrounding specific bills or policies. In this way, energy and advocacy for specific bills/policies will be sustained.
iii. A major bottleneck to the timely processing of gender-related policies is the high ministerial rotations in relevant ministries. It is therefore important to institute a permanent policy desk at the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. This would ensure stability and continuity in the development of policies during changes in ministers and governments. iv. Ignorance and a lack of awareness and capabilities on the part of individuals regarding gender inequity is widespread in Ghana leading to the perpetration of gender inequities. It is recommended that “gender”, as a cross-cutting phenomenon, be introduced into educational curricula at various levels of education. The feminists believe that early and timely education on gender will increase gender consciousness and equity among the younger generation to break the cycles of gender-inequitable attitudes and beliefs passed on through customs and cultures.
Feminists in Ghana have made great strides in fighting for the cause of women. They have been successful in pushing for the passage of formal laws and policies that protect the rights of women. However, considering the persistence of patriarchal norms in Ghana, the laws and policies are not enough to bring about gender transformative change in everyday lives. A change in gender attitudes requires a consistent and resilient effort, especially in the areas of IDOS Discussion Paper 6/2025 awareness creation and empowerment. Outcomes will include an improvement in individual knowledge and awareness of their constitutional rights and privileges, what constitutes abuse, and access to legal and support services. Meanwhile, there is a lack of political will on the side of duty bearers to adopt gender transformative policies. This calls for a non-state “conscience” on gender to drive change by closing the gap between formal laws and policies and the lived experiences of women by increasing individual and grassroot demand for gender equality, while measures are taken to deal with the systemic factors. The lack of core funding for feminist and women’s rights organisations over the decades, therefore, will attenuate this otherwise great synergistic impact of driving change through the push for formal laws and policies alongside sensitisation measures and support. Support from government and key development partners
for activities in support of feminism in Ghana will be crucial in bringing about the transformative change.
Ohemeng, F. N. A., Ogum, D., Akakpo, D. T., & Coker-Appiah, D. (2025). Feminists’ perspectives as transforma tive levers in Ghana (IDOS Discussion Paper 6/2025). Bonn: German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS). https://doi.org/10.23661/idp6.2025