Child marriage in Ghana: assessing the legal implementation of child rights standards

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dc.contributor.authorDanquah, Francisca
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeOlsen, Gregg (Sociology and Criminology)
dc.contributor.examiningcommitteeStewart-Tufescu, Ashley (Social Work)
dc.contributor.supervisorDurrant, Joan
dc.date.accessioned2023-09-08T19:23:10Z
dc.date.available2023-09-08T19:23:10Z
dc.date.issued2023-08-22
dc.date.submitted2023-08-22T21:25:58Zen_US
dc.degree.disciplineLawen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Human Rights (M.H.R.)
dc.description.abstractChild marriage is a union in which one or both parties in the marriage is below 18 years. Although the prevalence of child marriage is low in Ghana as compared to other countries in Africa, the rate of child marriage in the Northern regions of Ghana is high. Child marriage has a dire consequence on the victims, the country and the world at large. Child marriage threatens the physical, emotional/psychological and economic well-being of its victims. Poverty, traditions, religion, customary practices and peer influence are primary drivers of early marriage in Ghana. Girls who are at risk of being married, girls in union and girls who are no longer married suffer physical and verbal abuse from their husbands and husbands’ family, as well as sexual and emotional abuse. Child marriage violates the rights of its victims. Ghana was the first to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child and has ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. My aim in this study was to examine human right treaties in order to identify right standards to which Ghana has committed to, focusing on standards that are relevant to girls before, during and after marriage to support their physical, emotional/psychological and economic well-being. I then examined four legal statues – the Constitution, Children’s Act, Criminal Code, and Domestic Violence Act - to determine whether the right standards are upheld in law. The findings revealed that most of the right standards have the legal support of at least one of the four legal statutes examined. There are two primary limitations of the study. First, there are other legal statutes I could have examined that might implement the right standards. Second, if a standard is not upheld in law, it could be implemented through policies and services, which I did not examine in this study. Further research is needed into policies, programs and services that can promote the implementation of these rights and laws. I also recommend a comparative study on the performance of Ghana to other countries on child marriage, child welfare policies and programs.
dc.description.noteOctober 2023
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1993/37625
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsopen accessen_US
dc.subjectchild marriage
dc.subjectvictims
dc.subjecthuman rights
dc.subjectstandards
dc.subjectlegal statutes
dc.subjectemotional
dc.subjectphysical
dc.subjecteconomic
dc.subjectwell being
dc.subjecthealth
dc.subjecttreaty
dc.titleChild marriage in Ghana: assessing the legal implementation of child rights standards
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
local.subject.manitobano
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