Gender
Trapped in Limbo: Teenager girls caught between consent and marriage laws
A child according to Ghana’s Children’s Act, 1998, is any person below the age of 18 years and it clearly states that the best interest of the child shall be paramount in any matter concerning the child.
Again, it says the best interest of the child shall be the primary consideration by any court, person, institution or other body in any matter concerning the child.
According to Section 14 of the Act, ‘no person shall force a child to be betrothed, be a subject of a dowry transaction; or be married’.
The minimum age of marriage of whatever kind, it stated, shall be 18 years.
Ghana’s minimum age for sex
However, Ghana’s minimum age of consent to sex is ‘16’ years old. At this age, an individual is considered legally old enough to consent to participate in a sexual activity.
Ghana’s statutory rape law is therefore violated when an individual has consensual sexual contact with a person under age 16.
At the age of 16 years, most children in the part of the sub-region depend on their parents or guardians for their wellbeing-education, physiological needs (food, shelter, clothing, other basic necessities), and health needs among others.
When such a child, especially a female is legally permitted to consent to a sexual activity, it then means the child ‘should’ be able to take responsibility for whatever may be the effect of the sexual activity.
Disregard for loopholes in age consent to sex
A position paper on harmonising the age of sexual consent and the age of marriage in Ghana by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and UNICEF Ghana, states that despite the concerns arising from the disparity in age of sexual consent and age of marriage, it is noted that there have been limited legal interventions.
So far, it said attention had been on the campaign to end child marriages and much consideration had not been given to the age of sexual consent in the country.
In Ghana, sex is not a topic that is easily discussed in the open. The socio-cultural dynamics between parents and their children make it difficult for children to discuss their sexuality freely with older members of their family.
Exacerbated by the ubiquity of social media, the result is that many young children and adolescents learn about sex from peers, internet sources and experimentation. If a child is too young to marry before the age of 18, is he/she old enough to have sex at 16 years?
In their consultations, they found out people were far more willing to accept boys’ interest in sex as natural, than teenaged girls’ interest, which was regarded as wayward, and symptomatic of some deficiency in a girl’s upbringing or in the girl herself.
Statistics
In Ghana, many adolescents aged 15 to 18, whether married or not, have had sexual intercourse, according to the United Nations Population Fund report in 2016.
Additionally, 12 per cent of girls and nine per cent of boys have had sex before the age of 15 and statistics further show that 10 per cent of teens under 15 years are having sex.
A survey conducted by the Ghana Demographic Health (GDHS) in 2008 revealed that 44 per cent of young people have sex before age 18 and most initiate it at age 15.
According to the Ghana Statistical Service, between 2008 and 2014, the percentage of men and women between the ages of 25 and 40 who reported having sexual intercourse at age 15 decreased only one point, from 12 to 11 per cent (GSS 2015).
Furthermore, it has been estimated that four in 10 Ghanaian women and two in 10 men aged 15–19 have had sex before. (Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2004).
Experiences of survivors
In an engagement with Martha Asante, a 17-year old school dropout, she said: “I got pregnant at 16 and was forced to drop out of school. If the age of consent to sex was 18, I might have avoided this situation.
Since we were taught in school you can have sex at 16, I just gave in to a man who showed interest easily.”
Another, Naa Lamiokor Tagoe, a survivor of a child marriage, says: “I was married at 17 and had to endure physical and emotional abuse. If the legal age of marriage was enforced, I might have been spared this ordeal.”
Expert’s concerns
Mr Abdulai Jaladeen, the Upper East Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), at the celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child in Bolgatanga, appealed to the Gender Ministry to lead the crusade for a memo to be sent to Parliament for the law to be amended.
The delay in reviewing the age of consent to sex, he said, allowed culprits of child sexual abuses to go scot free. “When an adult impregnates a child at the age of 16, the law can catch up on you, but some of these people go behind to influence parents and even the victim.
And once the girl appears before a judge, and says I consented, the judge and prosecutors cannot do anything,” he noted.
Mr Jaladeen explained that if the law was changed from 16 to 18, men who fell foul to the law against girls below the age of 18 years would be punished fairly no matter the culprit’s financial and social standing.
He also called for a review of the Children’s Act to give stiffer punishment to people who give their girls out for early marriages to serve as deterrent to others, adding that the fine of GH¢500 for convicting an offender of the law was too minimal and suggested that a provision that spelt out modalities be made to compel the culprit to ensure that her education was not halted.
Dr Ndonwie Peter, National Executive Secretary of Girls Not Brides-Ghana, a network of non-governmental organisations, said the results of early sex at 16 was pregnancy, which truncated the education of girls as they were in many instances forced to cohabitate or marry those responsible for impregnating them.
He explained that the harmonisation of such laws to peg the minimum age of girls consenting to sex at 18 years, would help to control the increasing rate of early and forced marriages.
Challenges
Problems associated with child sex before marriage is intimate partner violence, sexually transmitted infections, adolescent pregnancy, early childbirth including unsafe abortions and infringements on their sexual and reproductive health and rights. The sexual relation involving a child usually occurs between her and an adult.
Therefore the older persons often take advantage of the girls and give them little or no room to negotiate for safe sex.
The WHO states that at 16 years or lower, the biological constitute of the girl might pose as a threat to childbirth and girls who engage in sexual activities are more likely to get pregnant, a condition that puts them at risk of experiencing stillbirths, miscarriages, eclampsia, puerperal endometritis, and systemic infections.
The babies might also suffer preterm birth, low birth weight due to young maternal age at birth, and severe neonatal condition. Many teenagers at age 16 engage in sexual intercourse not for procreation, but out of curiosity or for the fun of it and aside its consequences, the teenage mother may not be prepared for marriage or be legally permitted to marry.
To avoid shame, the parents of the female children may force their daughters to marry the man who impregnated them.
The situation is more common in the coastal communities and the Northern part of the country, where the pregnant girl is forced to live with the man responsible and/or his family, reports have stated.
Ghana as a country that is hungry for growth with all parties involved such as government, civil society organisation, development partners and donor agencies, parents, students, religious and traditional leaders, the media as well as legal practitioners, need to analyse carefully if an addition to the population through unwanted pregnancies by children is positive and should be encouraged.
If a child born of a child is not well taken care of due to inadequate finances, that child becomes a burden on society and the government at large. They gradually join the large population to depend on the fewer resources, and thereby harden the lives of the citizenry much more. -GNA
Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, a Deputy Chief of Staff, has called for sustained legal and institutional reforms to address gender biases within Ghana’s justice system.
She urged women lawyers to build on the legacy of trailblazers who have shaped the country’s legal landscape.
Madam Bampoe Addo made the call at the maiden Biennial Conference of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) Women’s Forum, organised in collaboration with the Ghana School of Law in Accra on Tuesday.
The event was on the theme: “The role of women lawyers in national development: honouring trailblazers.”
Madam Bampoe Addo said the progress made by women in the legal profession was not accidental but the result of years of struggle, sacrifice and determination.
She paid tribute to early trailblazers such as Matilda Foster and Annie Jiagge, saying their achievements broke barriers and opened doors for generations of women lawyers.
She commended the contributions of female judicial leaders, including Mrs Georgina Theodora Wood, Mrs Sophia Akuffo, and Mrs Gertrude Torkornoo, whose leadership reflected the growing influence of women in Ghana’s judiciary.
Women lawyers had made significant contributions across multiple sectors, including the courtroom, academia, policy development, civil society advocacy and community engagement.
Madam Bampoe Addo noted that their efforts had advanced gender equality, strengthened institutions and improved access to justice in the country.
She expressed concern about the persistent gender biases within the justice system, particularly in some judicial pronouncements that could undermine the dignity of women.
The courts, she noted, must not only deliver justice but must also communicate it in a manner that upheld respect and fairness for all parties.
“There is undervaluation of women’s unpaid domestic labour, including caregiving responsibilities, which are often overlooked in legal determinations, especially in matrimonial cases,” she added.
She called for a more progressive and context-sensitive approach to adjudication, drawing on comparative jurisprudence from other jurisdictions to ensure fairness and equity.
Madam Bampoe Addo urged legal practitioners and judges to build on progressive legal precedents and ensure that Ghana’s legal system evolved to reflect contemporary social realities.
She emphasised the importance of mentorship and inclusivity, encouraging women in leadership to create opportunities for others and support the next generation of female lawyers.
She called on young women to pursue legal careers with confidence, adding that the profession offered vast opportunities to contribute to national development.
Commissioner of Police (COP) Lydia Donkor, the Director-General of CID, said women lawyers played indispensable roles in shaping Ghana’s legal and governance systems.
They had excelled in various fields and occupied key leadership positions, contributing to policy reforms and championing justice for vulnerable groups, she added.
COP Donkor paid tribute to trailblazing women lawyers whose achievements continued to inspire and motivate younger generations to strive for excellence.
She urged students and young practitioners to go beyond academic successes and embrace the broader mission of promoting justice, fairness and societal transformation.
She encouraged more women lawyers to consider careers in the Ghana Police Service, describing law enforcement as a critical area where legal expertise was needed to strengthen justice delivery.
She commended the organisers of the conference for the success, saying it would encourage the next generation of women lawyers to continue to make significant contributions to Ghana’s development. – GNA
The Dzidula Pink Foundation has engaged expectant mothers on cervical cancer at a recent pregnancy clinic held at St Gregory Hospital, Budumburam in the Awutu Senya East District.
The engagement formed part of its advocacy on early cancer detection to safeguard maternal health.
It also formed part of the foundation’s broader mission to raise awareness about cancers affecting women, particularly at a time when many may be least likely to consider screening especially pregnancy and the postpartum period.
Addressing a gathering of pregnant women at the clinic, the president of the foundation, Ms Fafa Gozo, highlighted a worrying trend where a significant number of women are diagnosed with cancer around the time of delivery.
This, she noted, often results from delayed screening and limited awareness about the importance of early detection.
She educated the women about the need to prioritise their health by undertaking timely cancer screening, even while navigating the demands of pregnancy.
She reiterated that early detection remains one of the most effective ways to improve treatment outcomes and reduce mortality.
“Pregnancy should not be a reason to delay screening. In fact, it is a critical period where heightened awareness can save lives,” Ms Gozo said.
The engagement also created a platform for open dialogue, allowing the expectant mothers to ask questions, share concerns, and receive guidance from health professionals present at the clinic.
Health experts at the facility echoed the foundation’s message, underscoring that routine checks and screenings, when done early, can lead to timely interventions and better health outcomes for both mother and child.
By Esinam Jemima Kuatsinu
