Ghana

Same-sex sexual activity is prohibited under the Criminal Code 1960, which criminalises acts of ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’. This provision carries a maximum penalty of three years’ imprisonment. Only men are criminalised under this law.

The law was inherited from the British during the colonial period, in which the English criminal law was imposed upon Ghana. Ghana retained the provision in its first Criminal Code upon independence, which remains in force, and continues to criminalise same-sex sexual activity today. An anti-LGBT Bill which would further criminalise LGBT people has been passed by Parliament but will not become law until it receives Presidential assent.

There is some evidence of the law being enforced in recent years, with LGBT people being occasionally subject to arrest, though there is no evidence of convictions under the law.  There have been consistent reports of discrimination and violence being committed against LGBT people in recent years, including assault, mob attacks, arbitrary detention, extortion, and discrimination in accessing services.

2024

A private member’s bill, The Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill (“anti-LGBT Bill”), passed its third reading in the Ghanaian Parliament on 28 February. The bill will not become law until it receives Presidential assent.

The anti-LGBT Bill is aimed at criminalising the ‘promotion of LGBT+ rights’, essentially criminalising any LGBT advocacy in Ghana. The Bill’s scope is extensive, increasing the maximum penalty available for same-sex sexual activity to five years’ imprisonment, and expanding the criminalisation of LGBT people to include merely identifying as LGBT, advocating for LGBT rights and discussing LGBT issues in public.

Shortly after the passage of the anti-LGBT Bill, two separate legal cases challenging the Bill’s constitutionality were brought before the Supreme Court, one by journalist and lawyer Richard Sky, and one by Dr Amanda Odoi, activist and researcher at the University of Cape Coast.

Also in March, the Ghanaian President announced that he would not give his assent to the anti-LGBT Bill until these challenges were decided by the Supreme Court.

On 29 April, the High Court in Ghana dismissed a case brought by an opposition lawmaker which challenged the President’s decision to delay acting on the Bill until the two outstanding legal cases are decided.

On 8 May, the Supreme Court reportedly announced that the hearings on the two challenges to the anti-LGBT Bill would be delayed, and ordered the parties to amend their motions by 17 May. On 17 July, the Court adjourned the case and has not set a date for when proceedings will continue.

On 24 July, the Supreme Court upheld section 104(1)(b) of the Criminal and Offences Act 1960, the current provision which criminalises ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’. This case is unrelated to the anti-LGBT Bill. The case was filed in 2021 and challenged the already existing penal code provision criminalising same-sex sexual activity.

On 13 September, the Judicial Service of Ghana released a statement in response to continued criticisms of the delays to the cases challenging the anti-LGBT Bill. According to the Statement, the cases had been delayed because Parliament and the Attorney General had failed to file a defence, without which the Supreme Court cannot move to the next stage of the proceedings.

On 8 October, following public protests (see below), Samuel Nartey George, a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress Party, reportedly presented a petition to the Attorney General to expedite the hearing of the cases challenging the anti-LGBT Bill before the Supreme Court.

On 17 October, the Supreme Court granted an application by Parliament for an extension of time to file the Statement of Case in the Richard Sky case (see below). The Statement is required to move on to the next stage in the legal proceedings. The Court reportedly gave Parliament seven days to file the Statement. The Attorney General’s Office, which is also obliged to file a Statement of Case, has indicated it will be unable to do so until Parliament releases the financial impact analysis of the Bill.

2023

The private member’s Family Values Bill (the “anti-LGBT Bill”), introduced in 2021, received its second reading in Parliament in July.

The Bill has received significant support from within Ghana including from the Ghana Catholic Church (although the Ghana Anglican Church released a statement labelling the Bill too severe), but it has been widely condemned by the international community, including civil society, the Independent Expert on SOGI and other UN mandate holders, and religious leaders in the UK such as the Archbishop of Canterbury. Human Rights Watch stated that the Bill represents a ‘witch-hunt against LGBT people’ and takes all of the bad parts from other anti-LGBT Bills in Russia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Hungary and adds some of its own.

On 19 July, the Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge seeking to block parliament from being able to pass the Bill.

In December supporters of the Bill gave public statements that it would be passed before Christmas, requiring its passage through both the consideration stage and a third reading within that time. Ultimately however only 6 of the total 25 clauses in the Bill were discussed and Parliament adjourned for Christmas without the Bill having been passed into law.

2022

In June, a group of LGBT organisations filed a case against the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General, challenging the violation of their right to freedom of assembly, discrimination, unlawful arrest and detention when 21 activists were arrested during a workshop in 2021.

2021

In March, a group of eight MPs introduced the anti-LGBT Bill The bill was a response to the opening of an LGBT advocacy centre in Accra. The group stated that they hoped to pass the bill before the parliamentary session ended in March that year.

In August, the anti-LGBT Bill received its first reading.

The Bill was laid before Parliament and in September the Select Committee on Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs received 200 memoranda in respect of the Bill following a public notice. This included memoranda from the Human Rights Coalition. In November the Committee started public hearings in relation to the Bill.  The subsequent Select Committee Report made some observations and proposed amendments to the Bill.

That same year, Dr. Obiri-Korang, a lecturer of law at the University of Ghana, brought a case challenging section 104(1)(b) of the Criminal and Offences Act 1960, which criminalises ‘unnatural carnal knowledge’. The plaintiff argued that the provision breached the rights to privacy, non-discrimination and liberty under the Constitution.

2013

In March, the Deputy Attorney-General and Deputy Minister of Justice gave guidance on the issue of decriminalisation: “Unless and until an issue, be it social, religious, economic or political is sufficiently advanced in the moral consciousness of the citizenry and an unequivocal demand is made on Parliament to address the issue through effective legislation, any attempt to bypass the true wishes of the people will be counter-productive.”

2024

On 8 October, demonstrators marched through Accra to protest the delays in the cases challenging the anti-LGBT Bill, which are pending before the Supreme Court. The protesters were led by a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress Party, Samuel Nartey George, and demanded that the legal cases should be sped up to allow the Bill to be passed.

The Association of Magistrates and Judges condemned the protest, emphasising that the strict procedures of the Court must be followed and the legal process respected.

2023

In March, it was reported that members of the military raided a birthday party in Jamestown being held by members of the LGBT community, attacking and injuring guests.

2022

The US Department of State Human Rights report found that there were no reports of adults being prosecuted or convicted for consensual same-sex sexual activity. This finding has been consistent in these reports since 2017.

On 26 June, 30 LGBT community members were arrested in Accra on unlawful assembly charges, after assailants attacked a birthday party. They were released on 28 June, and the charges were later dropped due to a lack of evidence. The arrest and detention process outed several LGBT persons, some of whom lost their jobs as a result.

In Cape Coast, police detained two lesbian women at a house that had been used as a gathering spot for LGBT community members. The landlord subsequently terminated the lease.

2021

In May, police arrested 21 people for what they described as ‘promotion of an LGBT+ agenda at an unlawful assembly’ in the southwestern city of Ho. The group had gathered to share insight on how to document and report human rights violations against the LGBT community in Ghana before their meeting was raided by police. They were detained for 22 days, then released on bail, and charged with unlawful assembly, a misdemeanour. The charges were eventually thrown out by a court in August due to a lack of evidence.

2019

In August, LGBT activists reported that the police detained a young man reporting a robbery, as he mentioned that he was gay.

Amnesty International reported that the police conducted involuntary medical tests on two young men who were allegedly found having sex.

2018

Human Rights Watch reported in January that they were not aware of any prosecutions under section 104, however they were aware of instances in which police had arrested individuals suspected of being gay and extorted money from them.

2017

The US Department of State report stated that there were reports of prosecutions for same-sex sexual activity, however no convictions were reported.

2016

In June, three women were arrested at a football camp on suspicion of being lesbians. When released from detention, their families disowned them. In July, a 29-year-old lesbian’s father reported her to the police. Her grandmother paid for her bail after her arrest and she was told she must return to the police station approximately five times.

2014

In 2014 there was considerable public debate over whether Section 104 could be used to prosecute consenting adults for same-sex sexual activity, but there were no reports it had been used.

In August, police in Walewale, a small farming town and capital of the West Mamprusi District, Northern Region, arrested a 21-year-old man on suspicion of being homosexual and “recruiting” other youths. Police stated the arrest was for the suspect’s own safety, since residents of the town had vowed to kill the man and his entire family if he was not removed from the community.

In December, two lesbian women were arrested after one’s mother brought police officers to her home. They spent three days in prison but were not formally charged with an offence, and were eventually released.

2013

In February, Attorney General, Marietta Appiah Oppong, declared that unnatural carnal knowledge is a criminal offence and so the position of the law is clear, so that would be her advice to government upon taking office.

2024

In March, a young man alleged to be gay was reportedly hospitalised following a mob attack in Kasoa, near Accra.

In March, it was reported that the presidential candidate of Ghana’s ruling party, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia, stated that he was opposed to “the practice of homosexuality”, and promised to maintain this stance should he be elected in December.

2023

In September, it was reported that there had been an increase in discrimination and violence in Ghana, which was linked to the passage of the anti-LGBT Bill. In April four men were beaten in Kumasi, a large city in Ghana, and in June and July men were attacked after being lured to specific locations on dating apps. Eyewitnesses at the attack in July, which took place in Accra, said the victim was stabbed multiple times. There are also reports of kidnapping and ransoms, as well as an increase in online abuse towards LGBT individuals

2022

In 2022 violent attacks were reported and linked to the introduction of the anti-LGBT Bill. These attacks included a rise in so-called ‘corrective rape’. One case resulted from three women being raped and robbed by six men. Another involved the rape of a 15-year-old girl by men who allegedly said that she was a lesbian. Local activists raised concerns about the under reporting of rapes, especially of those being commited by family or community members.

In addition, a US State Department report noted that for the second year in a row there was a notable increase in anti-LGBT statements by high-ranking politicians, religious leaders and community leaders. These statements were widely reported in the media.

In July, the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association ran a workshop for medical professionals promoting “conversion therapies”, and the chief executive of the country’s Mental Health Authority called homosexuality “a mental disorder”. There has been an increasing number of reported instances of “conversion therapy” in recent years.

In August, unknown assailants in the Ashanti Region kidnapped, assaulted and blackmailed a human rights advocate.

2021

From early 2021 the LGBT community in Ghana began to be subjected to an increased crackdown by law enforcement. In January, the country’s first LGBT community centre and safe space, the LGBT+ Rights Ghana centre, was opened in Accra. However, the centre was closed down by police by February following anti-LGBT protests and discriminatory comments by religious groups, politicians and the press. The director of LGBT+ Rights Ghana, Alex Kofi Donkor, stated that while they expected some anti-LGBT organisations to use the opportunity to stoke tension, the level of the “anti-gay hateful reaction has been unprecedented”.

In July, a gay man was beaten by a mob, and media reporters were condemned for allegedly ‘glorifying’ the attack.

It was also reported that in 2021 police arrested an intersex woman in Ho, detained her in male cell, and encouraged the men in the cell to rape her.

2020

A US Department of State report noted that LGBT people faced widespread discrimination in education and employment, as well as police harassment and extortion, and gay men in prison were vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse.

It was reported that on 11 February, a group of 10 men violently attacked a man they believed to be gay, forcing their way into his home.

2018

In January, a Human Rights Watch report found that members of the LGBT community were being frequently subjected to “physical violence and psychological abuse, extortion and discrimination in many aspects of daily life.” It found that most people did not report the violence and abuse they faced to police due to fear of stigma, exposure, and arrest. Most of the LBT women interviewed were pressured into marriage and having a family. Those that did not conform faced violence.

In June, in the end of a mission statement after his visit to Ghana, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights stated that: “Discrimination against LGBTI people makes them vulnerable to extreme poverty and LGBTI people living in poverty experience intersecting forms of discrimination that prevent the full enjoyment of their human rights.”

2017

The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in Ghana reported receiving 41 reports of discrimination against LGBT people as of June 2017.

2016 

In January, three male students were lynched by a mob of students at Opoku Ware Senior High School in Kumasi, accusing them of having “engaged in homosexuality.” They had been armed with clubs, machetes and stones. Teachers intervened to stop the attack.

2015

In February, a well-known event promoter was beaten by a mob in Accra in February due to his perceived sexuality. A video recording of the attack was circulated widely through social media. Popular Ghanaian singer Efya later condemned the attack on Twitter.

In March, a group of women perceived to be lesbians were confronted by a mob during a private birthday party in the town of Teshie near Accra and “pelted with human faeces” according to reports.

In August, a soldier reportedly rescued a gay man being severely beaten by a mob at Kawukudi Park in Accra. The victim was invited by a friend to watch a football game with the intention to beat him up.

In the same month, a violent homophobe’s Facebook page was reportedly blocked and a police investigation started after complaints from UK based activist Pastor Jide Macaulay alleging that he was using social media to entrap and assault LGBT people.

Also in August, police reportedly launched a search for a group of about 20 attackers that brutally assaulted a man suspected to be gay in a suburb of Accra. Police later revealed that the victim was assaulted after he had contacted one of the local men to be his friend. The incident was recorded on a video that went public.

2014

In May, a gang of Muslim youths were wanted by police following the lynching of a gay man because of his sexuality. According to reports, local villagers refused to help the police in their investigation and were still looking for the man’s lover.

In August, a 21-year-old man was targeted by a group for wearing women’s clothes and having sex with men. They threatened to kill him and his family. The police responded by arresting the victim.

2013

In April, 53 students were expelled from a school after being suspected of being gay.

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