According to preliminary findings from the upcoming 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), two out of every five (41.6%) women aged 15 to 49 who have ever had an intimate partner have experienced at least one form of intimate partner violence (IPV), according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS).

This violence can be emotional, physical, or sexual.

The GSS said this in early figures on violence against women issued on Friday, November 24, 2023.

According to the service, 35.2 per cent of these women had witnessed emotional abuse at least once, 22.7 per cent had witnessed physical violence at least once, and 11.2 per cent had witnessed sexual assault at least once.

“More than half (53.4%) in the Savannah Region had experienced IPV, the highest recorded, followed by the Central (44.0%), Ahafo (44.0%), and Volta (43.6%) regions. The lowest rate of IPV was recorded in the Bono Region (26.3%). More than two in every five with primary education (44.1%) or no education (42.9%) had experienced IPV, almost twice that of women with more than secondary education (23.0%). IPV experience varies by employment status as well.”

“Women employed for cash reported the highest frequency of IPV (39.5%), about 10 percentage points higher than women employed but not for cash (28.9%) or not employed at all (29.1%). The most frequent form of sexual violence was being forced to have sexual intercourse (8.2%), for physical violence being slapped (11.6%) was most frequently experienced, and for emotional violence, it was being insulted or made to feel bad about herself (27.1%),” the GSS further stated.

It also said that one out of every three (33.2%) women aged 15 to 49 years in Ghana had suffered physical assault since the age of 15.

“Further, one in every ten (12.2%) women in this age group reported experiencing physical violence often or sometimes in the 12 months preceding the survey, and 6.8 per cent experienced physical violence while pregnant. Central Region (44.6%) had the highest percentage of women who had experienced physical violence since age 15 followed by the Savannah (42.9%) and Volta (40.2%) regions. The lowest rates of physical violence were recorded in Upper West (23.7%) and North East (23.7%) regions.”

“About three in every five (63.2%) women who have experienced physical violence, reported the violence was committed by current (33.2%) or former (29.9%) husbands or intimate partners, the leading perpetrators of violence against women. Fathers (11.9%), mothers (11.9%), and siblings (10.4%) were the next highest categories of persons committing physical violence. Women also reported physical violence from non-relatives including teachers (4.9%), schoolmates (4.6%), employers or work colleagues (1.0%), and other persons (6.1%),” it said.

According to the GSS, 14.1% of women aged 15 to 49 have experienced sexual violence.

“One in five women in the Volta (22.3%), Central (19.6%) and Savannah (19.6%) regions reported ever experiencing sexual violence, the highest recorded. Progress toward eliminating violence against women has been slow in the past decade.”

“Between 2008 and 2022, the experience of physical violence since age 15 declined from 36.6 to 33.2 per cent, experience of sexual violence declined from 18.8 to 14.4 per cent, and physical violence against pregnant women increased from 5.2 per cent to 6.8 per cent,” it stated.

This comes ahead of the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on November 25th.

The purpose of the day is to raise awareness and advocate for the prevention and abolition of violence against women and girls across the world.