Ghana Needs a Grievance Mechanism to Secure Women's Land Rights

Nov 5, 2019 | Nana Ama Yirrah
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From farms to towns, women are a major provider of food and food security for their families, but women in half of the world still struggle to access their equal land and property rights in spite of legal protections.

Meet Regina from Ghana. Regina is a 36-year-old woman living in a suburb of Accra, the capital of Ghana. She has been living with a man for the past four years, they are not married but have a son together. 

In Ghana, performing the customary marriage rites and proceeding to register the marriage are important steps to secure a woman’s place in a man’s home. It is the man who has to take this step. Regina has been pushing her partner to perform these rites but has not yet succeeded. Meanwhile, Regina kept supporting him, including making financial contributions to the purchasing of land for building a house.