Ghana’s Human Rights Record and Equal Protection from Violence to All Citizens

Abstract

The paper sought to examine Ghana’s human rights record and the treatment of vulnerable groups. It particularly assesses popular attitudes towards the sexual orientation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and Intersexuals (LGBTIs), and why people hold certain attitudes towards same-sex relations in Ghana. The study was descriptive with a representative sampling from five regions namely, Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Volta and Western. A sample size of 1200 with 95% confidence level and a margin of error of +/-2.8 was employed. The study revealed divergent findings about the perceptions, attitudes, knowledge, opinions and values of citizens on LGBTI issues in Ghana. First, while results showed that 87% of Ghanaians say they understand the fundamental human rights provisions in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the same percentage of Ghanaians (87%) are against allowing LGBTIs from holding public meetings. Similarly, about 60% of Ghanaians “strongly disagree” or “disagree” LGBTIs deserve equal treatment as heterosexuals. In addition, even though m ore than 97% of Ghanaians are aware that the Police have a responsibility to protect every citizen against mob injustice, only 20% “strongly disagree” or “disagree” the Police have a responsibility to protect LGBTIs against mob injustice. The study also established a strong correlation between religion and the rights of LGBTIs, with religion being a major predictor and significantly influencing people’s attitudes towards LGBTIs. In 2017, Ghana accepted a number of recommendations under the Universal Period Review (UPR) from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to provide equal protection of the law from violence to all persons including the sexual orientation of LGBTIs. The findings of the study were intended to monitor Government commitment to the implementation of the UPR recommendations. The study recommends the following among others: that public education of the understanding of the distinction between the rights and perceived acts of LGBTIs is crucial to the equal protection of the law from violence and discrimination to LGBTIs.