CHAPTER ONE
Background of study
INTRODUCTION
Domestic violence is a violation of the basic human rights and as such a global policy concern. However, people engage themselves in such acts consciously or unconsciously irrespective of its deviant nature. Approximately 35% of women worldwide have been either physically or sexually abused at some point in their lives with a large proportion being in the form of domestic violence (Moreno et al., 2013). For instance, statistics from Brazil show that intimate partner abuse of women account for more than 81% of assaults in Sao Paulo (Davis et al., 2001). Surveys of divorce cases in China and Romania revealed that 25% and 28% respectively of divorce occurred due to wife abuse. Similarly, in India, 90% of reported assault cases were that of wife beating (Ibid).
Undoubtedly, defining domestic violence comes with a level of difficulty due to the contextual nature of domesticity. However, it can be generally defined as any act that involves force or coercion which hurts or inflicts pain on an individual physically or psychologically. Several attempts have been made by some writers to define domestic violence within the Ghanaian socio-cultural context. Prah (2000) for instance is of the view that defining violence is associated with some level of evolution and can be described as relative in nature. This is mainly because the factors that affect its definition are subject to change and vary from culture to culture. She points out that defining domestic violence is linked to a range of factors such as the type of
violence experienced, its effects on the victim, the social status of the victim, as well as the social perception of violence.
Before the 1990s domestic violence seemed invisible in Ghana due to inadequate research on the subject matter (Ofei-Aboagye, 1994). Few studies were being done on domestic violence because victims especially women who were being “battered” by mostly intimate partners were not recognized as such (Ibid). The victims themselves were in denial of their abusive state mainly because of the pain they go through while recollecting the violence as well as fear of being branded a “bad wife” based on the husband or kinsmen‟s standards (Ibid). There was therefore the need for measures to be put in place in order to have the subject matter of domestic violence taken up seriously in the field of research. According to Ofei-Aboagye (1994) the famous Lavallee‟s “battered woman‟s syndrome” in Canada had to be incorporated into the Ghanaian legal system to deal with domestic violence cases. The “battered woman‟s syndrome”, originated from a case involving Lavallee, who murdered her husband in their bedroom after he had threatened her life. Charged with murder, Lavellee, explained that as a battered woman, she believed her life was in danger thus her action was out of self-defence. Eventually, through this case, the battered woman‟s syndrome was included in the codified Canadian definition of self- defence. Thus, according to Ofei-Aboagye (1994), adapting the battered woman‟s syndrome into the Ghanaian legal system will go a long way to make domestic violence incidents come out of its invisible state accompanied by adequate research into the subject matter.
Considerable efforts have been made in Ghana over the last three decades to reduce the incidence of domestic violence. Interestingly some of the initial studies on domestic violence in Africa took place in Ghana in the 1990s (Ofei-Aboagye, 1994). Efforts to put the Domestic Violence Act in place in the late 1990s were accompanied by much publicity in the media.
Physical spousal abuse became a regular theme in media reports, and this resulted in the establishment of the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) of the Ghana Police in 1998 (Amoakohene, 2004). WAJU is now known as the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), and continues to be the recognized institution within the Ghana Police Service responsible for handling domestic violence cases in Ghana. Furthermore, a National Coalition on Domestic Violence Legislation was established in 2003, and they were mainly stakeholder civil society organizations who had come together to advocate for a proper legislative system on domestic violence in Ghana. It is remarkable to note that this coalition “at various times worked closely with, and at other times independently of, or even in conflict with, the State” (Adomako Ampofo, 2008, p. 1). The Domestic Violence Bill was placed before the Parliament of Ghana in 2003 and it became a “subject of heated debate”. Finally, after several deliberations, on 21stFebruary 2007, the Ghanaian Parliament passed the Domestic Violence Bill into the Domestic Violence Act (Act 732) (Adomako Ampofo, 2008).
A major characteristic of this legislation has to do with its pragmatic and culturally sensitive approach in terms of access to justice especially when compared to that of other countries (GSS et al, 2016). The 2007 Ghanaian Domestic Violence Act does not only recognize the institutionalized agencies responsible for addressing complaints of domestic violent acts but also makes room for alternative dispute resolution approaches within the Ghanaian social system (GSS et al, 2016). These include the family and religious institutions. Although two main parties are involved in domestic violence (the victim on one hand and the perpetrator on the other hand), a third and important party that cannot be side-lined is that of the mediating body settling domestic disputes. Practically almost every country today has one institution or the other responsible for addressing domestic violence cases. These institutions tasked with settling
domestic disputes can be categorized as formal legal institutions and informal social mechanisms. Notable among the formal institutions are the law enforcement agencies such as the police and human rights activists. The informal social systems include the religious leaders, community leaders, family members and friends. However, research has shown that the informal social support system is widely explored than the formal institutions. In Australia for instance, seventeen percent (17%) of women abused reported to the police, whereas sixteen percent (16%) utilized the services of specialized agencies such as shelters, crisis centers or hotlines, counselors or women centers (Mitchell, 2011). Interestingly, seventy-five percent (75%) preferred to talk to friends, neighbours or immediate family members (Ibid).
The victim or survivor of domestic violence, or in some cases their family, usually chooses who or where to access justice and/or resolutions. Various socio-economic reasons come into play here in making such choices. In Ghana, several factors are perceived to influence one‟s preference of dispute resolution in domestic violence cases probably because of the high sensitivity attached to such matters and the manner in which the society responds to issues concerning domestic violence. For instance, rape victims are believed to be rather stigmatized than sympathized with when they make their ordeal public. Married women are also believed to be often advised by female family members not to even make public any form of abuse they are facing in their married life or face public ridicule. Furthermore, it is widely perceived that even when victims are bold enough to report these incidents to an agency for assistance or support, family members interfere using all manner of traditional conditions to remove the matter from the public domain. The need to make factual the factors underlying preferences of whom and/or where a victim of domestic violence reports his/her ordeal are of sociological importance since it informs policy makers in developing measures to address domestic violence issues. More
importantly, finding out if these victims report their ordeal to just a single institution or rather undergo a trajectory of reports will also give a clear picture of the experiences of domestic violence victims in Ghana who seek redress.
Statement of Problem
Domestic violence although a very common phenomenon within the Ghanaian social system especially among intimate partners, seemed invisible until the 1990s (Ofei-Aboagye, 1994). This can be attributed to the Ghanaian socio-cultural context that made it assume a nature of privacy thus “a no go area” to be studied (Ibid). Nevertheless, according to Prah (2000), studies on domestic violence done by Adomako Ampofo and Ofei-Aboagye and published in 1993 and 1994 respectively can be fairly described as that which broke the silence associated with issues of domestic violence and made it visible within the Ghanaian literature. Ofei-Aboagye (1994) established the existence of domestic violence in Ghana but argued it only seemed invisible due to the availability of a “conducive” socio-cultural environment. Adomako Ampofo (1993) on the other hand described the various types of violence being experienced by Ghanaian women both home and abroad within their domestic settings.
Further studies on domestic violence in Ghana gave documented evidence of its existence and prevalence in the country. For instance a study conducted by Ghana Statistical Service on domestic violence in Ghana revealed that both men and women in Ghana experienced various forms of domestic abuse. Notable among these types of violence were; economic violence, social violence, psychological violence, physical violence and sexual violence (GSS et al., 2016). Findings from this study also showed that almost three out of ten women (28%) and two out of
ten men (20%) reported to have experienced domestic violence twelve months prior to the study (Ibid). According to GSS et al., (2016) economic violence was the most common type of violence experienced (12.8%) whereas sexual violence was the least experienced (2.5%) by women twelve months prior to the study. On the other hand, the most common type of violence experienced by men was psychological violence (7.9%) with sexual violence also being least experienced (1.4%) within the same period.
