Culture has always been the backbone of each indigenous African community. Typically, a country like Ghana’s rich culture promotes historical heritage and builds a sense of togetherness. Never can we withstand the role cultural practices have played in instilling good morals in its people. However, a couple of such cultural practices practiced in some countries, especially Ghana, have some repercussions. Such repercussions, when not reconsidered or totally abolished, pose more harm than the good they might have been intended to deliver when they were developed. In this article, we explore some outmoded cultural practices against women and their negative implications on their victims.
In this article, we are going to look at some of these outmoded practices, especially against women, and why they should be abolished as we work towards United Nations Social Development Goal (SDG) number 5: gender equality.
Before we proceed, I would like to mention that such traditions were laid down long ago by people who were illiterate, uncivilized, and ignorant; hence, these traditions do not tally in any way with the doings of the modern world. It is, however, pathetic that, in spite of the current level of education and sensitization, some families especially in rural communities are not ready to let go of such inhuman acts. Outlined below are some of these cultural practices and their impacts on the victims.
Widowhood rites
Aside from the grief of losing a partner, women who have lost their spouse are subjected to widowhood rites. Though the activities involved in the process may vary for different communities, some of the most common practices demand that the widow alone sleep in the same room (or on the same bed) with the deceased for a night. Hair shaving, ritual bathing, confinement for a number of days, and walking on the street with a tag are also included. In addition, the widow is forced to marry the brother of the deceased, as if she were an asset to be inherited.
A woman who has lost her husband and is mourning and is supposed to be consoled or comforted in such times of distress and anguish is made to go through all this humiliation, stigmatization, and dejection in the name of tradition. By the end of this activity, the widow’s physical, emotional, and mental health are destroyed.
Early Marriage
Early marriage is a situation where a girl of tender age is given out to marry even before puberty. This practice is usually done by parents who are poor and cannot afford the responsibility of taking care of their child, such as education, provision of personal needs, and even feeding themselves. As a means of rescuing the family from hardship, the parents of the girl child will arrange and make negotiations with a man who is mostly old enough to be the grandfather of the child in exchange for money, food, or assets like farmland without seeking the consent of the child.
The practice entirely robs the child of her basic rights, like the right to education and the freedom to choose who she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Not withholding the health implications of a child sleeping with and serving as a wife to such an aged man, as well as the possible risks of childbirth. Finally, it overburdens the premature wife and mother with domestic chores, which can be detrimental to her wellbeing.
Female genital mutilation
Just as a male child is circumcised almost everywhere on the globe, ancient traditional leaders thought it wise to carry out the same activity on a female child. Let’s see their reason for this and tell if they were truly wise or otherwise. The female circumcision involves the removal of the genitals (clitoris) of the girl child. Take note: here, the genitals are removed, unlike in the case of the male child, where the foreskin is removed (biblically as a covenant). Hence, it is termed mutilation, as it is inhuman. The aim of this practice is to desensitize the girl child so as to maintain sexual purity until marriage.
Trokosi system
The Trokosi system is commonly practiced by the people of the Volta region in Ghana. According to the tradition, a virgin girl child of a parent who has committed a heinous act is forcefully captured and sent to serve in a shrine as an atonement for the sin committed by her parent. When this happens, the girl child becomes a slave to the supposed gods and fetish priest entirely. Most often, as the girl serves at the shrine, the fetish priest takes advantage and has sexual intercourse to his satisfaction. The girl child wallows in such imprisonment for so many years due to a crime committed by her parents.
Witch Camp
While most people continue to pray for long life and see old age as a blessing, a school of thought has it that women of old age are witches and must not be part of their community. This led to the establishment of the “witches camp”, which existed several decades ago and is still in existence. Often, women who are of old age and accused of witchcraft are tagged as witches and are abandoned or sometimes severely molested by the community and their families. Such women, in search of safety, flee to the witch camp, which is a settlement specially designated for them, and are restricted from entering their community.
This act is commonly found in the northern region of Ghana, where there are not less than six witch camps: Gambaga, Gnani, Bonyasi, Kukuo, Naabuli, and Kpatinga. Sad enough, Ghana is currently one of the last countries in the world with witches’ camps.
A careful look at the aforementioned outmoded cultural practices proves that women, though they are human too, do not have the right of expression when it comes to making choices as far as culture is concerned. This is cruel and insensitive towards gender; hence, it must be curbed. We do not have to settle for a culture that extremely violates the human right and health of others . We definitely cannot throw our culture away in the quest for modernization. However, we can amend our culture to make it a better one that its people will love and cherish.
Though some of these practices have been abolished in some communities, we haven’t attained the goal of completely eradicating them yet. This means there is more work to be done to grant young girls and women freedom from cruel cultural practices. It is never a crime to be a woman, nor is it a crime to be an African; hence, it is not a crime to be an African woman.
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