GHANA

FGM AND CULTURE 

FGM/C is practiced by several ethnic groups including the Kusasis, Frafras, Kassenas, Nankanis, Busangas, Wallas, Dagarbas, Builsas and Sisalas, who live mainly in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern regions of Ghana and the migrant population in the south. The form of FGM mostly practiced in Ghana is Type II (commonly referred to as excision). Other forms, such as Type I (commonly referred to as clitoridectomy) and Type III (commonly referred to as infibulation) are also practised.  

Between 2011 and 2017-18, the overall prevalence for women aged 15-49 decreased slightly from 3.8% to 2.4%. However, breaking down the most recent data by age group shows that the prevalence for women aged 45-49 is 4.9%, while for the youngest age group this has fallen to 0.6%. Despite the fact that a small number of women may be cut after the age of 15, the data suggests that there is a trend towards lower prevalence among younger women.

The procedures are performed by excisors known as “Wazams” (both men and women), the elderly in society (i.e. the traditionalists), mothers or traditional birth attendants (TBAs) who use unsterilised instruments such as knives and razor blades. No anaesthesia is used and no antiseptic precautions are taken when the same instrument is used on multiple girls. 

The procedure may be carried out during adolescence, at marriage, during a first pregnancy or on babies as young as seven days old. 

It is usually done in exchange for goods or small livestock, with a higher price if the girl is not a virgin. 

The usual age for undergoing this procedure follows regional patterns. In the Upper East, it is most often performed during puberty as a rite of passage to womanhood. Communities in the Upper West and Northern Volta regions more often perform this procedure on infants.

FGM AND LAW

The legal system in Ghana is based on a mixed system of English common law and customary law. The main law relating to FGM in Ghana is the Criminal and Other Offences Act 1960 (Act 29), Section 69A (Female Gender Mutilation) (COA 1960). In 1994 the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act inserted Article 69A to the COA 1960 to prohibit ‘female circumcision’. In 2007 this was further amended to ‘female genital mutilation’ and penalties were increased.

The Constitution of Ghana, passed in 1992, does not specifically address FGM, but 

  • Article 15 states that ‘the dignity of all persons shall be inviolable’ and that no person shall be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or any other condition that ‘detracts or is likely to detract from his dignity and worth as a human being’.
    • Article 26(2) prohibits all customary practices that ‘dehumanise or are injurious to the physical and mental wellbeing of a person’ 
    • Article 28(3) further states that no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Particularly relevant to FGM, 
    • Article 39(2) obliges the State to ensure that ‘traditional practices which are injurious to the health and well-being of the person are abolished’.

    While Section 69A of the COA 1960 sets out a clear definition of FGM and criminalises the performance of FGM and all those who procure or assist in the practice, as follows:

    • Section 69A(1) – ‘Anyone who carries out FGM and excises, infibulates or otherwise mutilates the whole or any part of the labia minora, labia majora and the clitoris of another person commits an offence, and will be subject to punishment.
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  • Section 69A(2) – ‘Anyone who participates in or is concerned with a ritual or customary activity that subjects a person to FGM commits an offence and will be subject to punishment.
    • Section 69A(3) sets out the following definitions: ‘excise’ means to remove the prepuce, the clitoris and all or part of the labia minora; ‘infibulate’ includes excision and the additional removal of external genitalia and stitching or narrowing of the vaginal opening; ‘mutilate’ includes any other injury caused to the female genital organ for cultural or other non-therapeutic reasons; ‘concerned with’ means (a) to send to, take to, consent to the taking to or receive at any place, any person for the performance of female genital mutilation; or (b) to enter into an agreement whether written or oral to subject any of the parties to the agreement or any other person to the performance of female genital mutilation.
    • Section 69A of the COA 1960 does not specifically set out punishments for failing to report FGM at any stage. More generally, Section 22 (Duty to Prevent Felony) states that anyone failing to report or prevent the commission or completion of a felony (which includes FGM) is guilty of a misdemeanour.

Cross-Border FGM 

It has been reported that the movement across national borders to practise FGM is a problem for Ghana; for example, FGM is practised in the north-eastern Bawku principality and in neighbouring communities across the border in Burkina Faso and Togo. The cross-border activity of perpetrators of FGM is alarming, as most Ghanaian parents cross the borders to Togo and Burkina Faso to cut their children and bring them back to Ghana. This is because the communities that patronise the practice are now aware that FGM is criminal in Ghana.

Section 69A of the COA 1960 does not specifically criminalise and punish cross-border FGM; more generally, the Courts Act 1993 (Act 459) (as amended) permits prosecution in Ghana for crimes even where the defendant commits the offence outside Ghana and the act committed is not an offence in the jurisdiction where it was carried out. Section 56(4)(n) specifically states: Any person (whether a citizen of Ghana or not) is liable to be tried and punished in Ghana for the respective offence if he does an act which if done within the jurisdiction of the courts of Ghana would have constituted any of the following offences . . . (n) any other offence which is authorised or required by a convention or treaty to which the Republic is a signatory to be prosecuted and punished in Ghana wherever the offence was committed.

PENALTIES

The amendment to Section 69A of the COA 1960 in 2007 increased penalties as follows:  

  • Section 69A(1) – anyone performing FGM commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to between five and ten years’ imprisonment.
  • Section 69A(2) – anyone who participates or assists in FGM also commits an offence and is liable upon conviction to between five and ten years’ imprisonment.
  • The failure to report any felony (which includes FGM) is considered a misdemeanour, and under Ghanaian law misdemeanours generally attract a punishment of imprisonment for not more than three years. Second-degree felonies generally attract a prison term of up to ten years and first degree felonies a prison term of ten years to life imprisonment. 
  • There is no stated penalty in the law for using derogatory or shaming language towards a woman refusing FGM in Ghana; however, the Domestic Violence Act 2007 protects against derogatory or verbal abuse in general and punishes with a fine of not more than five hundred penalty units (equivalent to GH¢6,000 or approximately US$1,36111) or up to two years’ imprisonment, or both.

FGM AND RELIGION

FGM/FGC crosses religious boundaries as practitioners of various religions perform it. The practice among some groups in Ghana appears to have few spiritual roots. It is not perpetuated by religion, but rather by traditional tribal beliefs. Some believe it leads to cleanliness and fidelity of the woman. Others believe it will increase fertility and prevent the death of first-born babies. It is also seen as a way to suppress a woman’s sexual desires and make her less promiscuous.

 

Other common beliefs are that children born to uncircumcised women are stubborn and troublesome and more likely to be blinded or otherwise damaged if the mother’s clitoris touches them during birth. In some areas the presence of a clitoris in women suggests she is a man and must be buried in men’s clothing and the funeral performed as a man’s when she dies. uncircumcised women are regarded by some as unclean, less attractive and less desirable for marriage. Social or peer pressure is also cited as a primary reason that some undergo this procedure. Soothsayers in Animist religions often condone the practice.

 

CASES

 

Following the 1994 amendment to the law, some successful prosecutions for performing FGM reportedly took place: 

  • The first was a male practitioner who was sent to prison and served at least five years. 
  • Following this, in 2003 a 45-year-old farmer was found guilty of cutting three girls and was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment. 
  • In 2004, another woman aged 70, was also sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for cutting seven girls in the Bakwu East District. 
  • More recently, one report stated that, in 2015, a 13-year-old girl in the western Tain principality fled imminent FGM and reported it to the authorities. She was threatened and had to seek refuge after the three perpetrators involved were arrested by police. Following their release on bail, pressure from local community leaders and politicians not to send the case to court meant that it was still unresolved after two months. The final outcome of this case is not known.

 

https://www.fgmcri.org/media/uploads/Country%20Research%20and%20Resources/Ghana/ghana_short_report_v2_(april_2021).pdf

 

https://2001-2009.state.gov/g/wi/rls/rep/crfgm/10100.htm

https://www.fgmcri.org/media/uploads/Law%20Reports/ghana_law_report_v2_(april_2021).pdf

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