A worrying 32 percent of Ghanaian girls aged 15 to 24 believe that wife-beating can be justified, highlighting persistent harmful gender norms in the country, Mrs Joycelyn Adii, Bono Regional Director of the Department of Gender, has revealed.
Speaking at a forum in Abesim near Sunyani to mark the 2025 “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence” campaign, Mrs Adii said that such attitudes are a major barrier to the empowerment and development of women and girls. She noted that a 2016 domestic violence survey found that 27.7 percent of women in Ghana have experienced at least one form of violence.
“Such beliefs are rooted in outdated traditions and harmful norms that continue to normalise violence against women,” Mrs Adii said, calling for urgent action from communities, families, and policymakers to challenge and change these mindsets.
The forum, organised by the Bono Regional Office of the Department of Gender with support from ActionAid Ghana (AAG), brought together civil society actors, security services, political representatives, and youth and women’s groups to discuss ways of protecting women and girls from both physical and digital abuse.
Mrs Adii emphasised that gender-based violence is not just a private matter, but a public health and human rights concern. She stressed the importance of breaking the culture of silence that perpetuates abuse, whether it occurs at home, in schools, in communities, or online.
“Violence against women and girls affects the whole community: families are broken, children are traumatised, productivity declines, and poverty deepens,” she said.
Mr Kwame Afram Denkyira, Bono Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid Ghana, called the prevalence of such beliefs among young women “an urgent and pervasive human rights violation,” and urged communities to prioritise education and awareness campaigns to dismantle harmful gender norms.
The event underscored the critical need to address deeply entrenched attitudes among youth to build a safer, more equitable society for women and girls in Ghana.
