The Ghanaian government passed the Domestic Violence Act on 22 February 2007. The original bill specifically prohibited marital rape; however, this was not included in the final version of the act. Nancy Kaymer Stafford’s article “Permission for Domestic Violence: Marital Rape in Ghanaian Marriages,” examines this exemption and why Ghana must repeal the marital rape exemption.
The article begins by examining the history of the marital rape exemption in British common law leading to the codification of this exemption in Ghanaian law. The article also discusses the new Domestic Violence Act and finishes by looking at Ghana’s legal obligations to outlaw marital rape created by regional and international treaties.
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Compiled from: "Abstract: Permission for Domestic Violence: Marital Rape in Ghanaian Marriages," Social Science Resource Network, 2007.