In Ghana, as in many countries around the world, the legal status of pornography is a complex and often debated issue. It involves balancing concerns about freedom of speech, public morality, and the protection of vulnerable groups, particularly children. The country's legal framework includes provisions that criminalize obscenity and indecent exposure, but the application and interpretation of these laws in the context of modern media and social norms remain a subject of ongoing discussion.
The question of whether pornographic material constitutes protected free speech or obscenity, and even a public health concern, is central to this debate. While personal opinions vary, the legal framework of each country ultimately determines the status of pornography. Some countries, like the United States and Canada, have minimal censorship due to laws guaranteeing free speech and their interpretation by the courts. Other countries adopt a more stringent approach, censoring or blocking pornography, especially online.
Global Perspectives on Pornography Laws
To understand the landscape of pornography laws, it's helpful to look at how different countries approach the issue. North Korea, for instance, has the highest level of censorship globally, prohibiting all pornography. China employs the "Great Firewall" to censor pornography along with other Western media and political news. Many Muslim-majority countries, including Qatar, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates, take a similar approach to protect Islamic values.
Russia blocks many internet sites, including some pornography sites, with the general rule that viewing pornography is not illegal, but producing it is. Thailand instituted a ban on online pornography in 2019. Many governments believe that censoring pornography is necessary to protect children from online dangers and trafficking risks. Some governments are hesitant to censor pornography to avoid infringing upon free speech, as long as it does not involve illegal acts.
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The Situation in Ghana
In Ghana, issues related to sexual intercourse are rarely discussed with children due to cultural and religious beliefs. Despite laws regulating sexual consent, many children in Ghana start having sexual relationships at very young ages. According to the 2018 Multiple Indicator Sampling Survey (MICS), 7% of adolescent boys and 11% of adolescent females aged 15 to 24 started having sex before turning 15.
In Ghana, sex with or without the consent of a person under 16 years constitutes defilement. Such sexual act is unlawful, and anyone found guilty faces a sentence of 7 to 25 years in prison. Early sexual debut increases children’s risk of unwanted pregnancy, which leads to the termination of children’s education or induced abortion. This study demonstrated that socio-demographic characteristics of children (e.g., age, sex, education, and marital status) were significant correlates of early sexual debut.
Early Sexual Debut Among Children
Children’s engagement in sexual activity is a significant public health issue, which is detrimental to children’s sexual and reproductive health, growth and development. Early sexual debut is defined as having had first sexual intercourse at or before age 14 years of age. The effects include a rise in the number of lifetime sexual partners, unprotected sexual intercourse, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS, unwanted and unintended pregnancies, and unsafe abortions.
In Ghana, the legal minimum age of sexual consent is 16. According to the 2018 Multiple Indicator Sampling Survey (MICS), 7% of adolescent boys and 11% of adolescent females aged 15 to 24 started having sex before turning 15. In Ghana, sex with or without the consent of a person under 16 years constitutes defilement.
Research on Early Sexual Debut in Ghana
Few studies on early sexual debut have focused on adolescents. Existing studies have emphasized the correlates of early sexual debut. For instance, Alhassan et al.’s study among Ghanaian women aged 15-49 found that age, education, place of residence, household wealth, marital status, substance and alcohol use, contraceptive use, heard of HIV and Internet use, among others were significant correlates of early sexual debut. Similarly, Asante et al.’s study found that age, education, place of residence, contraceptive use, access to media, and household wealth were significant correlates of early sexual debut.
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A convergent parallel mixed-method approach guided the study. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select respondents (children aged 8 to 17) for the quantitative data. Regarding the qualitative data, ten focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with children aged 8 to 17 at convenient places. Also, fifty expert interviews were conducted with officials of state agencies mandated to promote and protect children’s rights and wellbeing.
Key Findings of the Study
The study found that the prevalence of early sexual debut among children was 13.2%, which is more predominant among female children. The main causes of early sexual debut include engaging in sex after watching pornography, self-desire to have sex, and being influenced by alcohol consumption. Also, age, sex, education, marital status, religion, ecological zone, living arrangements, and access to the Internet were significant correlates of early sexual debut.
From Table 1, 13.2% of children initiated sex early (before or at age 14). Older children (14-17 years) (27.3%) significantly initiated sex early than children aged 8 to 10 (1.4%) and 11 to 13 (2.9%). A higher proportion of children with tertiary education (52.6%) initiated sex early than children with other educational attainment. More children who resided in the Coastal zone (17.1%) significantly initiated sex early than children from the Middle (11.6%) and Northern (10.0%) zones. Also, children who lived with neither of their biological parents (20.0%) significantly initiated sex early than children who lived with either father alone (19.6%) or mother alone (15.2%) and both parents (9.8%).
For male children, the main causes of early sexual debut were being influenced by alcohol consumption (27.5%), self-desire to experience sex (24.9%) and feeling like having sex after watching pornography (24.5%) to engage in early sexual debut. For female children, the main causes of early sexual debut were feeling like having sex after watching pornography (26.0%), self-desire to experience sex (22.4%), and being influenced by alcohol consumption (16.5%). About 15% of female children mentioned financial assistance made them initiate sex early.
Key informants narrated that some children are exposed to pornographic or sexually explicit materials on their phones, influencing them to initiate sex early since they want to experiment with what they watch. In comparison with children who have never viewed or read sexually explicit materials, children who watch sexual content are more likely to have early sex.
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From the multivariable binary logistic regression analysis (Table 3), female children (AOR = 1.594, 95% C.I. = 1.312-1.938) were more likely to initiate sex early than male children. Children with tertiary (AOR = 21.241, 95% C.I.= 9.747-46.285), SHS/Voc./Tech./Com. (AOR = 9.080, 95% C.I.= 4.572-18.032), and JHS (AOR = 2.509, 95% C.I.= 1.316-4.784) had higher odds of initiating sex early than those with no education/primary education.
Children who lived with their biological father alone (AOR = 1.518, 95% C.I.= 1.009-2.283), the biological mother alone (AOR = 1.400, 95% C.I.= 1.096-1.788), and non-parents (AOR = 1.316, 95% C.I.= 1.040-1.666) had higher odds to initiate sex early than children who lived with both biological parents. Children aged 8 to 10 (AOR = 0.279, 95% C.I.= 0.123-0.629) and aged 11 to 13 (AOR = 0.314, 95% C.I.= 0.207-0.478) were less likely to initiate sex early than children aged 14-17.
| Characteristic | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Male | 51.1% |
| Aged 11-13 | 29.8% |
| Christians | 75.1% |
| Primary Education | 42.1% |
| Middle Ecological Zone | 40.7% |
| Living with both biological parents | 57.4% |
| Initiated sex early | 13.2% |
Legal Framework and Enforcement
Ghana already criminalizes pornography and indecent exposure so if this is the purpose of the new law, then there is no need for it. The laws that criminalize the foregoing are compiled below:
- Article 281: Deals with obscene writings, drawings, prints, paintings, printed matter, pictures, posters, emblems, photographs, cinematograph films, or any other obscene objects made for trade, distribution, or public exhibition.
- Article 177: Addresses the making, production, or possession of obscene writings, drawings, prints, paintings, printed matter, pictures, posters, emblems, photographs, cinematograph films, or any other object tending to corrupt morals.
Debates Around Social Media Censorship
As technological communications advance, the battleground for freedom of speech is social media. Governments in the sub-region including Ghana should be careful at stifling the human right called free speech, “including attempts at censorship by government actors critical of comments on social media, the shifting standards of private platforms to censor online expression and the rise of hate and extremist speech in the digital world”. The Government of Ghana intends to restrict free speech on social media but by how much, we do not know.
The Ghana Minister of Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has stated that the government would soon make laws to criminalize the sharing of “inappropriate social media content." The purported idea behind this move is child online protection, development and welfare. The challenge with this policy position is the definition of “inappropriate social media content”.
It is important to note that these universal fundamental human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. In Ghana, there are cases where some of these freedoms in this section of the Constitution have been abused by those put in office to safeguard them.
The government has not shared these answers with citizens for now. And for this reason, Ghanaians must interrogate the issue because history confirms that this same government administration tried to implement policies without public consultation that the overwhelming majority of the public did not agree with when it was eventually leaked. Transparency with the public was not a strong suit of this government’s predecessor either, the National Democratic Congress, as seen with Ghana’s agreement with the USA to host two former Gitmo detainees.
International Law and Freedom of Speech
We have established beyond doubt from international law as well as Ghana’s Constitution that freedom of opinion, expression and speech is a fundamental freedom for every Ghanaian and the fact that this right includes “freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” (UDHR, 1948). As per the ICCPR Article 19(2), “the right to freedom of expression … shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice”.
State parties are obligated by International Law to protect these rights, however, not to the exclusion of others in the society-meaning these freedoms can be expressed so long as they do not infringe on other people's human rights. The ability to enjoy freedom of expression and speech should not derogate another person’s ability to enjoy their rights and should not affect national security adversely.
For this reason, the freedom of expression and speech may be subject to certain formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties “as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary” (Article 19 of ICCPR & Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms).
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