Members of Modern Women of Wisdom Organisation (MWWO), an all-female humanitarian non-governmental organisation (NGO), are gladdened at the pledge by the Upper East Regional Minister, Mr. Rockson Ayine Bukari, to abolish negative and outmoded cultural practices that halt the progress of women in the region.
A statement signed and issued by the leaders of MWWO including Afua Foriwaa, Mercy Darkoaa and Josephine Asmah, and copied to Today over the weekend, said although culture reflects the inner workings of the society by defining values and influencing personality development, it was dynamic.
The statement noted that culture can and does change over time as societal norms change. According to the statement, harmful traditions share origins in the historically unsymmetrical social and economic relationships between men and women and they exist in many forms. It indicated that negative cultural practices that hamper the progress of women go beyond domestic violence.
They include forced marriage, dowry-related violence, marital rape, sexual harassment, intimidation at work and in educational institutions, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced sterilisation, trafficking, widowhood rites, child marriage and forced prostitution. Such negative practices, the group said, cause trauma, injuries and sometimes death.
“Female genital mutilation, for example, is a common cultural practice in certain parts of the Northern region. This outmoded cultural practice causes bleeding, infection, urinary incontinence, difficulties with childbirth and even death,” it said. According to the World Health Organisation, about 130 million girls undergo the procedure globally and 2 million are at risk each year, despite international agreements banning the practice.
On the issue of widowhood rites, some widows are sometimes forced to marry another male in the same family her husband died from or reimburse her dowry. When the woman agrees to marry the relative of her late husband, her husband’s properties go to the new husband. Women who get adamant are sometimes beaten by their biological brothers and dragged to their in-laws house because they don’t want to give back “cows.” Some families justify the idea of forcing widows to be inherited by other males in the family with arguments that the whole family “contributed to the bride price and so the the woman is their “Family Property.”
Efforts to alter or eradicate these negative practices are often met with suspicion or hostility from those communities practicing them, particularly when efforts originate from outside the community. “For many members of these societies, ending their traditions is unimaginable, as such practices constitute an integral part of their socio-cultural fabric. This time round, we are very optimistic because the clarion call was made by an indigene.”
According to the statement, culture is not static but a consistent flux; transforming and reforming.
“We strongly believe people will change their behaviour when they understand the hazards and indignity of harmful practices and they realise that it is possible to give up harmful practices without giving up meaningful aspects of their culture,” it added. The group in the statement saluted the Upper East regional minister for taking such a bold step.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.
