Ghana
Male homosexual acts are officially illegal in Ghana. President John Evans Atta Mills has pronounced that the government will not decriminalise homosexuality and LGBTI persons should "stop the practice".
Legislation
Male to male relationships: Not legal
Punishments for male to male relationships: Imprisonment of 10 years or more
Female to female relationships: Legal
Marriage and substitutes for marriage: No law
More on Ghanian law at ilga.org
Legal incidents
According to the criminal code, “unnatural carnal knowledge” is defined as “sexual intercourse with a person in an unnatural manner or with an animal.” It states that individuals who have unnatural carnal knowledge “of any person of sixteen years or over with his consent” is guilty of a misdemeanor.
There has been considerable debate over whether this legislation could be used to prosecute consenting gay adults, and a 2011 report found no reports that it had ever been used. (source: U.S. Department of State Country Report )
Social Climate
In 2011, LGBT persons were reported to face widespread discrimination, as well as police harassment and extortion attempts. Gay men in prison were often subjected to sexual and other physical abuse.
In June 2010 more than 1,000 protesters in Takoradi, Western Region, participated in a rally against reports of gay and lesbian activities in their city. (source: U.S. Department of State Country Report )
- GayGhana: www.gayghana.org is an open platform for Ghana’s LGBT community.
- The Gay and Lesbian Association of Ghana, GALAG, has been active for a number of years, with the president Prince Kweku MacDonald speaking out in international media. The association has no webpage, but can be found at gayghana.org
- The Coalition Against Homophobia in Ghana (CAHG) is a group of organizations and individuals that aims to counter ongoing attacks against homosexuals in Ghana. See CAHG press release August 2011
Conventions
Ghana is party to the African charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).
