Violence against women still rampant in the northern region of Ghana

Why won't men ever allow women to be? Why won't men allow women to enjoy the solitude and happiness they are entitled to in this world? Everyday campaigns against violence against women send messages across the country, but men, who are the very culprits, turn a deaf ear to it. Is it a crime to be a weaker vessel, or to be at the service of the stronger ones? When will men begin to treat women fairly, and stop their cowardly attitude towards women, knowing very well that they can never defend themselves.

If men claim to be really men, and not only good for making babies, they should prove themselves man enough to take care of all the problems at home, and not count on women for support. They should be man enough to train the children, and not leave it solely in the hands of the woman. They should be able to face their problems, and not run for cover for women to cover them when they are in trouble. The elimination of violence

against women in Ghana has been one of the priorities of governments. The government has come of with the Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), which is a unit in the police service, and has tried its best to make some women in Ghana know their rights. It is however unfortunate that these rights and campaigns against violence against women seem to have not reached the northern parts of the country, yet women there face the most abuse against women in Ghana.

Women in the northern part of Ghana are faced with all kinds of abuses due to the people being unaware about rights of women. They, in a way, have the wrong ideas of their religion and cultural practices, coupled with lack of formal education. Apart from women facing female genital mutilation (FGM) they as well go through the trauma of being forced into marriage, abused in marriage, and in the performance of widowhood rites.

Widowhood rites and violence against women
It is surprising that a man will never be in trouble or be blamed when his wife dies, he is not taken through any humiliating traditions, or forced to do anything against his will, but for the woman, it is the vice versa. Most times the majority of women are blamed for the death of their husbands, both by society and their fellow women, forgetting they being in a similar situation is inevitable.

According to research done by actionaid Ghana in some of the districts of the northern parts of Ghana, when a woman is widowed, she is locked up in a room for about between four months and a year. She is taken trough widowhood rites, which include the smearing of clay on the woman's body, which is done right after the burial of the husband. Between three months and a year, the woman is taken to the riverside to be washed down, sometimes with the husband's brothers watching. If one survives the rituals, she is considered innocent of her husband's death.

The demeaning aspect is that a woman, upon the death of the husband, becomes part of the estate of the man, so she is inherited by anyone who inherits her husband. When she refuses to be inherited, she is sent out of her late husband's house without her children. Sometimes if she decides not to marry, she is expected to stay single for the rest of her life, no matter how young she is. What happens then to a woman like that? Her happiness is shattered, and she automatically loses her life, as she is no longer living her own life but someone else's.

Economic and violence against women
At last, the majority of men in the northern parts of Ghana have proven themselves as not being man enough - a man is supposed to take care of all the finances of the homes, and not boast of being good in bed only. A man is supposed to give respect to the woman, and not force the women to engage in all forms of tedious work, even in periods of pregnancy. Men in the northern parts of the country let their wives to do the tedious work on their various farms during their pregnancy period regardless of their condition they are treated as slaves, forgetting that they put these women in such a fragile condition.

Unlike in the south where the majority of men have ideas as to how men are supposed to behave, men from the northern side have none. In the south, a man is aware of his obligation to give money to the woman to cater for the domestic aspect of the home, including the preparation of meals, however, in the north its does not happen that way. Further research of actionaid Ghana indicates that in the north the woman is given a specific amount of grain at the end of the harvest season. It is her role as a woman to find ways and means to provide the soup that will be taken with the meal prepared from the grain given to her by the man. In such cases the man cares less about where she gets the money to support the home, as she will be accused of stealing when she tries to sell some of the grain to support the home.

In this regard, she has to get into any kind of business to support the home. In some parts of the northern region also, the woman is given an amount of money by the husband as a gift during their marriage ceremony, including the gifts and monies given to her by people who attend the ceremony.

At the end of the ceremony, it is expected of her to use the money to cater for the family all through the marriage, or is sometimes given a piece of land to cultivate to provide food for the home. According to some of these women, as they are struggling to put food on the table, their husbands would be spending their money on drink and women.

Forced marriages and violence against women
Women are forced into marriage at a tender age, sometimes to rescue the family from financial embarrassment. In the northern parts of Ghana, all that is expected of a man is to identify the woman he wants to marry, and the proposal will be accepted by the family of the woman, without the consent of the woman. Upon the refusal of the woman to accept the marriage proposal, she is taken against her will to the man's home, and from that day onwards she becomes the legal asset of the man. As these men practice polygamy, they sometimes have about two or more wives making the lives of the women miserable.

Polygamy is the commonest marriage practiced in the northern parts of the country, where men go to the extent of marrying girls about four times less their age, despite the fact that they already have about three wives. Polygamy is gradually spreading the HIV/AIDS virus among women, as the man involved in polygamous marriages have the probability of spreading the virus to about the women he is married to.

In a research by actionaid about a woman whose name has been with held, she was 13 when she was forced by her father to marry her sister's husband's brother. Even though he was extremely older than her, and considering her being under age, she was one day sent forcibly to the man's house. After several years of marriage with violence, she was infected with the HIV/AIDS by her husband. She is now 24 years with three kids, however up to date, she does not know if her children are also HIV positive. Obviously the future and dreams of this woman have been shattered, as she also has to go through the trauma of stigmatization by society.

Conclusion
The government should not concentrate only on the south in the elimination of violence against women, but intensify its work in the north as well, so as to set the women free. Women must be educated well enough not to put their lives at risk, all in the name of tradition. It is the responsibility of women to bring justice to themselves, as the men are not willing to stop their atrocities.