Kin Group Affiliation and Marital Violence Against Women in Ghana

2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 486-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Pearl Sedziafa ◽  
Eric Y. Tenkorang
Keyword(s):  
Violence Against Women ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Married Women ◽  
Marital Violence ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Group Affiliation ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Ghanaian Women

The socialization of men and women in Ghana often confers either patrilineal or matrilineal rights, privileges, and responsibilities. Yet, previous studies that explored domestic and marital violence in sub-Saharan Africa, and Ghana, paid less attention to kin group affiliation and how the power dynamics within such groups affect marital violence. Using the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey and applying ordinary least squares (OLS) techniques, this study examined what influences physical, sexual, and emotional violence among matrilineal and patrilineal kin groups. Results indicate significant differences among matrilineal and patrilineal kin groups regarding marital violence. Socioeconomic variables that capture feminist and power theories were significantly related to sexual and emotional violence in matrilineal societies. Also, variables that tap both cultural and life course epistemologies of domestic violence were strongly related to physical, sexual, and emotional violence among married women in patrilineal kin groups. Policymakers must pay attention to kin group affiliation in designing policies aimed at reducing marital violence among Ghanaian women.

Determinants of Sexual Violence Against Married Women: Qualitative Evidence From Ghana

Sexual Abuse ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 107906322091072
Author(s):  
Gervin A. Apatinga ◽  
Eric Y Tenkorang
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Violence ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Married Women ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Core Idea ◽  
Ghanaian Women

Some evidence suggests that in sub-Saharan Africa, sexual violence is commonplace among married women, yet this problem is underresearched. Using qualitative methods and applying Heise’s social-ecological model, this study examined the experiences of 15 Ghanaian women suffering sexual violence in their marriages. Results from the thematic analysis indicate several determinants of sexual violence. Whereas some participants identified macro-level and exosystem factors, including poverty, others pointed to micro-level and ontogenic factors, such as husbands’ substance abuse. The results corroborate the core idea of Heise’s framework, namely, that structural- and individual-level factors make women vulnerable to violence. The study concludes that Ghanaian legal and policy frameworks must be enforced and strengthened to address the etiology of sexual violence and abuse.

Examining HIV-related stigma and discrimination in Ghana: what are the major contributors?

Sexual Health ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Y. Tenkorang ◽  
Adobea Y. Owusu
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Transmission ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Factual Knowledge ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Stigma And Discrimination ◽  
Related Stigma ◽  
High Knowledge ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background Although AIDS-related stigma and discrimination are considered detrimental to HIV prevention activities, not many studies have attempted to understand stigma and discrimination in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Ghana. Methods: Using the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey and applying the ordinary least-squares technique, this study examined what influences AIDS-related stigma and discrimination among men and women in Ghana. Results: The results indicate that Ghanaian men and women with relatively high knowledge about HIV/AIDS had low stigmatising and discriminatory attitudes (b = –0.097, P < 0.01; b = –0.083, P < 0.01), respectively. On the other hand, respondents who endorsed more myths about HIV transmission had high stigma and discriminatory attitudes. Women who had ever tested for their HIV serostatus reported significantly lower levels of stigma and discrimination (b = –0.085, P < 0.01) compared with those who had not tested for HIV. Individuals who are highly educated, employed and in wealthy households all reported significantly lower levels of stigma and discrimination compared with those who are uneducated, unemployed and in poorer households. Conclusion: AIDS-related stigma and discrimination can be reduced by encouraging HIV testing, and ensuring that Ghanaians understand and have factual knowledge regarding the transmission of the disease.

Faith and Marital Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the Links Between Religious Affiliation and Intimate Partner Violence Among Women in Ghana

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 25-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baffour K. Takyi ◽  
Enoch Lamptey
Keyword(s):  
Intimate Partner Violence ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Marital Violence ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Least Squares Regression ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Sub Saharan

Research shows that intimate partner violence is quite widespread throughout the world. In the case of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), studies have concluded that cultural and economic factors help to sustain the spread and maintenance of intimate partner violence in the region. Although the cultural interpretations predominate in current research, few have examined the links between religion, an important cultural variable, and intimate partner violence in SSA. Given the growth and importance of religion in African cultures, we used data from the 2008 Ghana Demographic Health Survey ( n = 1,831) and ordinary least squares regression method to investigate the links between religious affiliation and intimate partner violence. Findings from our study point to some variations in intimate partner violence by affiliation. This is especially true with regard to women’s experience with sexual violence and emotional violence. Besides religion, we also found ideologies that support wife abuse, the nature of decision-making process at the household level, and husband’s use of alcohol to be important determinants of intimate partner violence in Ghana. We examined the implications of these findings.

scholarly journals Towards the attainment of sustainable development goal 7: what determines clean energy accessibility in sub-Saharan Africa?

Green Finance ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 268-286
Author(s):  
Paul Adjei Kwakwa ◽  
◽  
Frank Adusah-Poku ◽  
Kwame Adjei-Mantey ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Random Effect ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Sub Saharan

<abstract> <p>Access to clean energy is necessary for environmental cleanliness and poverty reduction. That notwithstanding, many in developing countries especially those in sub-Saharan Africa region lack clean energy for their routine domestic activities. This study sought to unravel the factors that influence clean energy accessibility in sub-Saharan Africa region. Clean energy accessibility, specifically access to electricity, and access to clean cooking fuels and technologies, were modeled as a function of income, foreign direct investment, inflation, employment and political regime for a panel of 31 sub-Saharan countries for the period 2000–2015. Regression analysis from fixed effect, random effect and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares show that access to clean energy is influenced positively by income, foreign direct investment, political regime and employment while inflation has some negative effect on its accessibility. The policy implications from the findings among other things include that expansion in GDP per capita in the sub-region shall be helpful in increasing accessibility to clean energy. Moreover, strengthening the democratic institutions of countries in the region shall enhance the citizens' accessibility to clean energy. Ensuring sustainable jobs for the citizens is necessary for access clean energy.</p> </abstract>

scholarly journals CONTINENTAL MUSICOLOGY: DECOLONISING THE MYTH OF A SINGULAR “AFRICAN MUSIC”

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 177-193
Author(s):  
Thomas Mathew Pooley
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Musical Structure ◽  
African Music ◽  
Popular Imagination ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
Musical Identity ◽  
The North ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
And Function

The musical identity of the African continent is sustained in the popular imagination by the idea of its unity. This identity emerges from a constellation of ideas about Africa’s distinctiveness constructed by generations of scholars who have diminished its diversity to substantiate the claim that shared principles of musical structure and function in sub-Saharan cultures can be read as ideal types for the continent as a whole. The idea of a singular “African music” is predicated on the notion that African “traditional” music of precolonial origin in sub-Saharan Africa possesses a set of distinctive features that are essential to its identity. Musical cultures as diverse as Aka, Ewe, Shona, Yoruba, and Zulu are subsumed within a singular frame of reference; others that do not possess these features are, by implication, excluded. To make sense of this myth of a singular “African music” we must reckon with the universalising impulse that sustains it. This means interrogating the discursive formations out of which it has been fashioned. Whose interests does it serve? Taking a decolonial perspective on the power dynamics that structure global south-north relations in the academy, this article points to the ways in which the north perpetuates its authority and dominance over the south by subsuming others within its cultural and intellectual ambit. Decolonising “African music” means dismantling the hegemony of “continental musicology” and the myth of a singular “African music” that is its creation.

Foreign Land Acquisitions, Corruption, and Sustainable Livelihood in Sub-Saharan Africa

2015 ◽  
pp. 237-261
Author(s):  
James E. Conable
Keyword(s):  
National Development ◽  
Sustainable Livelihoods ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Land Acquisition ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Negotiated Settlement ◽  
Land Acquisitions ◽  
Foreign Land ◽  
Sub Saharan

This chapter investigates the link between foreign land acquisitions and corruption and its implications for sustainable livelihoods in two countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania. The leading question is, Does foreign land acquisition provide support for sustainable livelihoods or threaten it and why? The findings reveal that foreign land acquisition provides the prospect to build the capacity necessary for the development of Mozambique and Tanzania, but the local communities that host biofuel industries are being exploited and their livelihoods threatened due their marginalization in the land transactions. At a glance, it appears as if land deals are transparent, communities, governments, and foreign investors reach a negotiated settlement that benefits all sides, but land deals are being facilitated by power dynamics, corruption, community cohesion, and promises without fulfillment. Therefore, given local communities equal opportunity to influence land deals will create the environment necessary for cooperation, fulfillment of promises, national development, and improve livelihood opportunities.

scholarly journals Subjective Happiness, Health and Quality of Life and Their Sociocultural Correlates among Younger Population in Malawi

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanni Yaya ◽  
Sharmistha Ghosh ◽  
Bishwajit Ghose
Keyword(s):  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
Wealth Quintile ◽  
Public Health Research ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Psychosocial Needs ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Regression Methods ◽  
Sub Saharan

Public health research and policy in sub-Saharan Africa are generally disease-oriented, with the focus being largely confined within the biological determinants of health. So far, little attention has been given to developing a more health-oriented approach by emphasising the psychosocial dimensions of health, especially among the younger population. To this regard, we conducted the present study to assess the prevalence and sociocultural correlates of perceived happiness, health, and life satisfaction among the adolescent and young (15–24 years) population in Malawi. We analysed cross-sectional data on 12,610 men and women based on a Malawi multiple indicator cluster survey conducted in 2013–2014. Data were analysed using descriptive and multivariable regression methods. According to the findings, more than 80% of the men and women reported being satisfied about happiness, health, and life. Multivariate analysis showed an inverse relationship between being currently or formerly married and perceived happiness. Ethnic disparities in perceived health and happiness were more pronounced in men, whereas that of life satisfaction was more pronounced in women. Living in households of the highest wealth quintile was positively associated with health and life satisfaction, but not with happiness. These findings highlight the need for prioritising the psychosocial needs of the adolescent and youth populations in designing health and social policy in Malawi. The findings need to be interpreted in light of the factors specific to the sociocultural environment in Malawi.

scholarly journals Community perspectives on maternal and child health during nutrition and economic transition in sub-Saharan Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniella Watson ◽  
Sarah H Kehoe ◽  
Agnes Erzse ◽  
Adélaïde Compaoré ◽  
Cornelius Debpuur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Health ◽  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Maternal And Child Health ◽  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Economic Transition ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Maternal And Child Nutrition ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
And Child Health

Abstract Objective: To explore community perceptions on maternal and child nutrition issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Design: Thirty focus groups with men and women from three communities facilitated by local researchers. Setting: One urban (Soweto, South Africa) and two rural settings (Navrongo, Ghana and Nanoro, Burkina Faso) at different stages of economic transition. Participants: Two hundred thirty-seven men and women aged 18–55 years, mostly subsistence farmers in Navrongo and Nanoro and low income in Soweto. Results: Differences in community concerns about maternal and child health and nutrition reflected the transitional stage of the country. Community priorities revolved around poor nutrition and hunger caused by poverty, lack of economic opportunity and traditional gender roles. Men and women felt they had limited control over food and other resources. Women wanted men to take more responsibility for domestic chores, including food provision, while men wanted more involvement in their families but felt unable to provide for them. Solutions suggested focusing on ways of increasing control over economic production, family life and domestic food supplies. Rural communities sought agricultural support, while the urban community wanted regulation of the food environment. Conclusions: To be acceptable and effective, interventions to improve maternal and child nutrition need to take account of communities’ perceptions of their needs and address wider determinants of nutritional status and differences in access to food reflecting the stage of the country’s economic transition. Findings suggest that education and knowledge are necessary but not sufficient to support improvements in women’s and children’s nutritional status.

scholarly journals The prevalence, awareness, management and control of hypertension in men and women in Benin, West Africa: the TAHES study

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ileana Desormais ◽  
Salimanou Ariyoh Amidou ◽  
Yessito Corine Houehanou ◽  
Stephan Dismand Houinato ◽  
Gwladys Nadia Gbagouidi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Rural Setting ◽  
World Health ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background Due to epidemiological transitions, Sub-Saharan Africa is facing a growing burden of non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Among their risk factors, hypertension is a major determinant of CVDs, but the prevalence and level of awareness and management of this condition are poorly studied in African populations. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hypertension and identify its associated risk factors as well as the awareness and management of this condition in a community-dwelling cohort in Benin. Methods A cross-sectional door-to-door study was conducted in the population over the age of 25 years in Tanve, a rural setting in Benin. The questionnaire and anthropometric measurements of the World Health Organization STEPWISE survey were used. Blood pressure was measured using standard procedures. Results The sample included 1777 subjects (60.9% females, mean age was 42.5 ± 16.5 years). The prevalence of hypertension was 32.9%, similar in men (32.8%) and women (33.0%, p = 0.9342). Age and obesity were significantly associated with hypertension. Less than half (42%) of hypertensive people were aware about their condition and only 46.3% of them were treated. Awareness ratios differed between men and women (respectively 32.9% vs. 47.5%; p = 0.0039) and was not influenced by age, education, occupation, marital status or income. Female sex was the only factor associated with better controlled HTN, independent of socio-economic parameters. Conclusion This large population-based study confirms the high prevalence, low awareness, and low control of hypertension in men and women in sub-Saharan Africa. Only half of the populations with hypertension are aware of their hypertension, indicating a high burden of undiagnosed and un-controlled high blood pressure in these populations.

EFFECTS OF COUPLES' CHARACTERISTICS ON CONTRACEPTIVE USE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE GHANAIAN EXAMPLE

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
YAW OHENEBA-SAKYI ◽  
BAFFOUR K. TAKYI
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Health Survey ◽  
Contraceptive Use ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Socioeconomic Characteristics ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Impact

Using data from the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, this study examines couples' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics in the context of their attitudes towards family planning, and the impact of these factors on the use of contraceptives. The characteristics of the husbands and their influence on wives' behaviour illustrate the role of intra-household relations between men and women and their effect on fertility-related behaviour in patriarchal African societies.

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