In recent years, Ghana has faced significant pushback against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and more (LGBTQI+) rights, marked by stricter legal restrictions and widespread societal opposition. Similarly, progress on women’s rights has been slow, with inadequate policy implementation.
Despite these challenges, various organisations and movements are actively countering these setbacks. This brief provides an overview of their activities and the broader socio-political context.
Ghana’s socio-political landscape is characterised by deep-seated stigma against LGBTQI+ individuals, driven by cultural, religious, and traditional beliefs. This stigma impedes the advancement of LGBTQI+ rights (Agyapong 2023). Same-sex relationships are illegal, and the majority of Ghanaians hold negative views on LGBTQI+ issues (Dulani, Kewaza and Dionne 2016). Religious leaders and government officials often portray LGBTQI+ advocacy as a Western imposition rather than a local issue (Agyapong 2023).
In February 2024, Ghana’s parliament passed the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, which imposes up to five years in prison for promoting or supporting LGBTQI+ activities (Reuters 2024). This bill significantly expands criminal penalties for the LGBTQI+ community. Activists have successfully halted the bill’s progression through legal injunctions, with organisations such as LGBT+ Rights Ghana launching online petitions to oppose it.
Women in Ghana face persistent gender inequality and harmful customary practices. The slow implementation of women’s rights laws and inadequate resources are seen as forms of backlash, highlighting the need for ongoing advocacy and legal reform.
The economic landscape further complicates advocacy efforts due to limited resources. For example, the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT), which coordinates numerous organisations and individuals advocating for women’s rights, struggles with funding (NETRIGHT 2024). Similarly, organisations such as Drama Queens Ghana face resource constraints that impact their ability to support LGBTQI+ individuals through events and media campaigns.
The rollback in Ghana involves tightening restrictions on LGBTQI+ rights and reinforcing traditional gender norms. Legislative efforts include criminalising LGBTQI+ advocacy and activities further, alongside slow implementation of women’s rights laws.
For this brief, a total of nine organisations, individuals, and smaller groups were analysed, offering a well-rounded perspective on efforts to counter rollback.
Landscape of anti-rollback actors
Organisations addressing women’s rights focus on public participation, gender-based violence, and sexual health; LGBTQI+ groups target the rollback of LGBTQI+ rights. Interventions span civic space, legal advocacy, and media, aiming to challenge discriminatory practices and promote inclusive policies.
Organisations vary in their nature and scale. For instance, LGBT+ Rights Ghana operates nationally on LGBTQI+ issues, while the African Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) (Ghana chapter) provides legal support and advocacy. Funding sources include international grants and local donations. NETRIGHT benefits from international funding, enabling larger-scale projects, while Drama Queens Ghana relies on local support, fostering a close connection with the community.
Historically, coalitions such as NETRIGHT have influenced gender policies effectively (Britwum 2017). Organisations such as the Alliance for Equality and Diversity (AfED) publish policy briefs to raise awareness. Although international collaborations with entities such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have been crucial for funding, financial challenges and political structures persist, and the field will be hard hit by the recent closure of USAID.
Counter-rollback strategies
Organisations employ a mix of strategies, including discursive, practical, and legal.
Legal strategies include advocacy and lobbying, such as LGBT+ Rights Ghana’s efforts against the Promotion of Proper Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (2021), and providing legal support. Practical strategies include awareness campaigns by groups like the Gender Centre for Empowering Development (GenCED) and NETRIGHT to improve public understanding and acceptance of women’s rights and LGBTQI+ rights. Discursive strategies include those employed by organisations such as Drama Queens Ghana, which organises theatre productions and media campaigns to address LGBTQI+ issues and raise awareness. These strategies address sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), gender-based violence, and women’s public participation within civic and media domains.
There is some evidence of effectiveness. For example, NETRIGHT’s public forums have advanced awareness on issues such as social protection and trade. Policy changes include the adoption of the Child Rights Act and laws on domestic violence and sexual harassment (AWLA Ghana 2024). In August 2024, Ghana’s parliament passed the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill, which mandates the inclusion of women in major decision-making positions. This bill, aimed at enhancing women’s public participation, had been delayed for over a decade despite constitutional support (Setordjie 2024). Grass-roots initiatives, notably Women’s Voice in Leadership and collaborations with organisations such as Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana and the Affirmative Action Bill Coalition, were instrumental in building support for the bill.
Resistance to LGBTQI+ rights highlights broader societal resistance to change, while advocacy efforts for women’s rights, though slow, have gained visibility and support.
Gaps and areas for future research/work
Research on the full impact of grass-roots initiatives is limited. The long-term effects of advocacy on legislation and public attitudes remain under-documented. More research is needed to understand the effectiveness of advocacy efforts and the experiences of LGBTQI+ individuals.
Addressing these gaps requires longitudinal studies on advocacy impacts and qualitative research on the lived experiences of women and LGBTQI+ individuals in Ghana.
Credits
This Country Brief was written by Siju Yusuf. It was supported by the project Rapid Scoping Review – The Nature of Feminist and LGBT+ Movements in a Range of Selected Countries, funded by UK International Development from the UK government. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of IDS or the UK government’s official policies.
This is an Open Access brief distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited and any modifications or adaptations are indicated.
