The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Women’s Right in Ghana: A Study of the Implementation of the 2007 Domestic Violence Act

Abstract

Domestic Violence (DV) is a serious issue that knows no geographical boundaries. It impacts men, women and girls across all societies with no distinction of culture, class, age, ethnicity, socio-economic or religious affiliations. The ‘Declaration on the Elimination of all forms of Violence against Women’ (DEVAW) was adopted in 1993 following the need to establish specific international instrument to tackle Gender Based Violence (GBV). Since then, many countries have passed legislations towards protecting and promoting women’s right. In Ghana, the most notable instrument is the 2007 Domestic Violence Act (DVA) in compliance to its international obligations. After a decade of passing the DVA in Ghana, the study assesses the extent to which the DVA is implemented. The study targeted a total of sixty (60) respondents comprising; 30 persons who have experienced DV; twenty (20) officials from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) and ten (10) personnel from selected NGOs using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. The findings showed that, although Ghana has developed institutions and policies to tackle GBV, DV persists in the country. This has been attributed to several challenges including patriarchal cultural perceptions, police knowledge about the provisions of international women’s rights instruments and the lack of resources for key institutions like DOVVSU. To achieve compliance, Ghana and stakeholders involved in the implementation of the DVA must as a matter of urgency, put in place mechanisms such as those recommended in this study to address these challenges.