Women in Ghana: History, Current Status, and the Ongoing Quest for Equality

Nov 13, 2025 0

In Ghana, women constitute a significant portion of the population, accounting for 50.7% (GSS, 2021). Despite this demographic majority, leadership roles across various sectors remain predominantly occupied by men.

Ghana Women's Soccer Team

Historical Context: The Unnamed Heroines of Ghana's Independence

The narratives surrounding the struggle for Ghana’s independence and immediate post-independence nation-building have often been male-centered. State ceremonies officially praise the efforts of men, namely, Kwame Nkrumah, Ako-Adjei, Edward Akufo-Addo, Joseph Boakye Danquah, Obetsebi-Lamptey, and Ofori Atta, known as the Big Six.

This masculinization of history is not unique to Ghana. The silence on women’s role can be attributed to the emphasis on a kind of social history writing that rarely broaches the political implication of women’s namelessness. Women’s political actions and history “disappeared” in a cumulative process whereby written accounts reinforce and echo the silence of previous ones.

In recent decades, however, several scholars have attempted to write women back into mainstream history. Women’s political roles as activists, organizers, and financiers have been explored. Despite these attempts to emphasize women, the leading women largely remain unnamed in the accounts on Ghanaian independence.

Leading Women of Ghana’s Independence and Post-Independence Nation Building

Scholarship on these women is limited because the tradition of providing written accounts of the careers and personal philosophies of nationalist leaders is a male-dominated territory. These biographical studies make it possible to identify some of the women of our own nationalist struggle.

Hannah Kudjoe: The CPP organizer, the propaganda secretary, and a founding member of the Committee on Youth Organization. She founded the All-African Women’s League (AAWL) after independence in 1957 which was focused on pan Africanism. Her resistance, her mobilizing prowess, and her enormous contribution to the struggle earned her the nickname “Convention Hannah”.
Evelyn Amarteifio: Created the National Federation of Gold Coast Women (NFGCW) in 1953.
Sophia Doku, Margaret Martei, Susanna Al-Hassan, and Annie Jiagge: Influential in “local, regional, and transnational dialogues” about the place of women in the context of nation-building.
Akua Asabea, Ayisi Ankrah, Ama Nkrumah, and Hannah Kudjoe: Led rallies across the country, mobilizing people and funds in defense of the arrested UGCC leaders despite the ban on public gatherings. Akua Asaabea was also arrested and imprisoned for taking part in the positive action campaign.
Mabel Dove Dankwah: Worked at the offices of the Evening News. She urged Ghanaians to support the CPP and Kwame Nkrumah through her publications, and informed readers about the progressive policies of the CPP.
Leading market women: Took part in the 1948 boycott. They campaigned in the remote part of the country where the CPP could hardly reach. They also mobilized funds from other traders for party activities.
Dedei Ashikishan: Also known as Dedei Ashikishan, she was a businesswoman, political activist, and feminist. As the leader of the Market Mother Association, she provided funds and campaigned for Dr. Nkrumah to win the Accra-Central seat.
Susanna A-Hassan: Was an author and politician. She is said to be the first Member of Parliament in the Northern Territory. She is the first Ghanaian female to be appointed minister and the first African woman to hold a cabinet portfolio.
Mrs Dove Danquah: A journalist during the colonial era. In 1954 she became the first female member of Ghana’s legislative assembly. She designed the Ghana flag.
Mrs Gloria Adwoa Amon Nikoi: Was the first Ghanaian woman to hold the position of Foreign minister. She and her husband Mr Nikoi played a great role in the independence struggle.
Agnes Oforiwa Tago-Quarcoopome: A market woman, who together with the Makola Women Association called for support for Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

How Women’s Patriotism Is Underappreciated

Women were instrumental in the independence struggle of Ghana and other African countries: spreading nationalist ideologies, funding political activities, founding and leading political parties, taking parts in civil disobedience, forming organizations, organizing rallies, canvasing for votes, defying public orders to organize rallies, getting arrested, composing party songs and slogans, and launching petitions for the release of men who were arrested.

Beyond their enormous contribution to the nationalist independence struggle and post-independence nation building in the 1960s, Swantz (1985, p. 159) notes that “women became targets and not actors in development.” The scene where women’s activism is encouraged, and exploited but later denied is not unique to Ghana.

Current Status: Progress and Persistent Challenges

Despite the significant contributions of women throughout Ghana's history, gender inequality persists in various forms. Multiple forms of violence against women still exist in Ghana. Efforts to bring about gender equality continue to grow in Ghana.

Although women are guaranteed political participation rights under the 1992 Ghana Constitution, there is a lack of female representation in government. There has never been a female president in Ghana. There has been a slow increase of women in Parliament since the adoption of the multiparty system in 1992. Ghana has taken multiple steps to increase equality in the political sphere.

For example, the government signed and ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination (CEDAW). Many institutions in Ghana work to advance women's rights and welfare issues. Women's groups and activists in Ghana are demanding gender policies and programmes to improve the livelihood of women. Additionally, the government has a ministry dedicated to women, and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection focuses on policy formation on issues that pertain specifically to women and children.

The lack of political participation from women in Ghana can be attributed to longstanding cultural norms. The traditional belief that women in Ghana should not have responsibilities outside the home contributes to the deficiency of women in politics. Leadership is also a skill that is traditionally associated with boys and men.

Political Representation and Leadership

The passage of the Affirmative Action Act by the Ghanaian Parliament in 2024 was a major step toward addressing gender inequalities. This Act aimed to address historical and systemic inequalities, particularly gender disparities, by promoting equal political, social, and economic opportunities and ensuring the equal representation of women in leadership roles.

However, despite the passage of this Act, women remain underrepresented in parliament. Ghanaian women continue to lag in ministerial positions, with only 8 women serving as ministers out of 43 (18.6%) (Frimpong, 2025) and only 4 out of 17 (23.5%) as deputy ministers (Damalie,2025; Korankye, 2025 ).

In contrast, Ghana continues to lag. Progress towards gender parity in politics is hindered by weak legal enforcement, cultural barriers, and political inertia. Additionally, cultural norms, a lack of support structures, and high campaign costs also constrain women’s political participation. Female politicians in Ghana often face discrimination, harassment, and a lack of financial and institutional backing. This underrepresentation of women is not limited to politics - it extends into academia and leadership more broadly.

Read also: Resilience of Women in CAR

According to ESSA’s State of Women Leading Report (2021), the gender gap in higher education leadership across sub-Saharan Africa remains significant. Regionally, this disparity is even more pronounced, with women holding a mere 2.5% of vice-chancellor positions and 5% of CEO roles in higher education institutions. Yet, despite these low numbers, there are signs of progress - albeit slow.

Between 2009-2013, Ghana had its first female Speaker of Parliament. In January 2025, history was made when Ghana inaugurated its first female Vice President.

Policies, mentorship, and institutional reforms should be focused on promoting women's advancement in leadership. Most importantly, transforming mindsets about gender and leadership is critical for achieving genuine equality (ESSA, 2021). It is time for Ghana to turn policy into practice.

Education and Literacy

Even though women have a higher population percentage, education rates are 10 percent higher for men. Inequality in gender enrollment in school remains an issue in Ghana. Based on household populations, about 50% of men and only 29% of women have attained secondary schooling or higher.

In 2019, according to the Education Sector Performance Report (ESPR), female enrollment in secondary schools increased to 48.0% in the 2018/2019 academic year, up from 47.6% in the 2017/2018 academic year.

During 2008-12, the national literacy rate for young women aged 15-24 was 83.2%, only slightly lower than that for males of the same age group (88.3%). However, literacy rates fluctuate across the country and across socioeconomic statuses. Over the timespan of 2008-2012, 4% more girls were enrolled in preschool than boys. Net enrollment and attendance ratios for primary school were both about the same for boys and girls, net enrollment standing at about 84% and net attendance at about 73%. Enrollment in secondary school for girls was slightly lower than for boys (44.4% vs. 48.1%), but girls' attendance was higher by about the same difference (39.7% vs. 35.9%).

Economic Activity

Today, women make up 43.1% of economically active population in Ghana, the majority working in the informal sector and in food crop farming. In crop farming, women the majority of women work in weeding, planting, and selling food crops. About 91% of women in the informal sector experience gender segregation and typically work for low wages.

Within the informal sector, women usually work in personal services. There are distinct differences in artisan apprenticeships offered to women and men, as well. Men are offered a much wider range of apprenticeships such as carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, mechanics, painters, repairers of electrical and electronic appliances, upholsters, metal workers, car sprayers, etc. Women are flourishing in teaching professions.

Women also dominated the secretarial and nursing professions in Ghana. Although women have been assigned secretarial roles, some women are bridging the gap by learning how to code and take on men's role such as painters, electricians etc. This is changing the discourse on the role of women in the workplace and the nature of their jobs has been evolving with time.

Gender-disaggregated distribution of the economically-active population in Ghana

Health and Well-being

Reproduction related cases are the cause of many health problems for women in Ghana. According to UNICEF, the mortality rate for girls under five years old in 2012 was 66 per 1,000 girls. The birthrate for adolescents (aged 15-19) in Ghana is 60 per 1000 women. The rates between rural and urban areas of the country, however, vary greatly (89 and 33 per 1000 women, respectively).

Among women 15-49 years old, 34.3% are using contraception. Contraception use is positively correlated with education level. Pregnant women are more vulnerable to malaria due to depression of the immune system. Malaria may lead to malaria-induced anemia and may also cause low birth weights. Pregnant women in Ghana are encouraged to sleep under a mosquito net to avoid such infections from mosquito bites.

A law passed in 1985 allows for legal abortion in Ghana under certain conditions. These conditions include rape, incest, or risk the mental or physical health of the woman. However, unsafe abortion remains prevalent, and abortion remains the highest contributor to maternal mortality.

Social Norms and Cultural Practices

Social norms and assigned roles for women is one of Ghana’s main issues. There are social standards that women in Africa have to follow, depending on their culture and religion. There are other factors which compound a woman’s social norms. For example, president's wives in Africa are required to be present at official functions. Additionally, if a woman is unsuccessful in providing a son, her husband might take another wife.

A way to fix social norm is by making school enrollment higher for women due to higher knowledge of the topic, and higher positioning of women throughout the continent. The traditional belief that women in Ghana should not have responsibilities outside the home contributes to the deficiency of women in politics.

Polygyny refers to marriages in which men are permitted to have more than one wife at the same time. In precolonial times, polygyny was encouraged, especially for wealthy men. Ghana’s child protection law, the Children’s Act, prohibits child marriage.

Rates of female-headed households are on the rise in Ghana. Contrary to worldwide findings that female poverty is correlated with higher rates of female-headed households, findings from the Ghana Living Standards Survey indicate that female-headed households may not actually experience higher poverty than male-headed households. This is because reasons that households are headed by females differ across the country.

Overall, women in female-headed households bear more household and market work than men do in male-headed households, largely because the female head of household is usually the only adult of working age or ability. Men are usually able to distribute work with a female spouse in male-headed households, as most men in male-headed households are married. Additionally, the amount of domestic work performed by women when living with or without a spouse does not vary, leading to the conclusion that males generally make little to no significant contribution to domestic work.

Further, women who are the heads of household generally own about 12 fewer hectares of land than male heads of household.

The Ongoing Quest for Equality

Ghanaian women are attaining higher education and occupying more and more leadership positions, which is very commendable yet there is no doubt that girls and women in Ghana are still facing inestimable challenges in the present age, the biggest of all being the quest for equality.

Although it may be written in the nation’s constitution that everybody, irrespective of gender should be treated equally in all aspects of life, equality is still far from being a reality in the Ghanaian society. Women are still perceived and treated as subordinates to men and this is why the majority of women from all over Ghana are struggling to nullify the prejudiced notion of women being viewed as just baby-makers, cooks and housewives.

Girls and women want the opportunity to prove their worth and that is when girls or female education comes in. In many ways women and girls in Ghana are limited by societal boundaries. In comparison, men have numerous cultural rights to autonomy and social freedom than women.

Many times, one will hear from a person that a woman should not gain many academic degrees because it will be a so called “turn off” for her potential suitors. It is a common practice that women get married at a certain age, start their own family and keep up the house, whereas men have the freedom to decide whether they want to get married and if so when they want to get married.

The pressure created by the Ghanaian culture for females to have a family is ridiculous. An average Ghanaian family would rather have the pride of having a wedded daughter than a Ph.D. holding bachelorette. In every aspect of the Ghanaian life, one can see that girls and women are measured inferior to men and are still never given the same chances as them.

Many Ghanaian parents dictate the life choices of their daughters when it comes to certain aspects of life, such as choosing a spouse or making career choices. Furthermore, most women from my country lack the courage and self- confidence to stand up for themselves. Even in their quest to fight for equality, there’s still a fear of criticism and a fear of disdain lurking in the hearts of girls and women of Ghana.

Rather Ghanaian women face problems of acknowledgement from men in the Ghanaian society. These problems throw a light on the effects of superiority and gender stereotypes. Mainly due to cultural practices and beliefs, gender inequality and gender biased discriminations is prevalent in Ghana and hence the need to raise awareness about the disadvantages.

It is high time men from the Ghanaian community woke up from the illusion that women exist to serve, make babies and be secondary to men. They need to evolve to deal with the new realities associated with equal co- existence with women and do away with the old ways of thinking and gender stereotypes. Women, when given the chance, are capable of everything that men are capable of.