Ghana under pressure to amend law on minimum age for consensual intimacy from 18 to 16
- Amnesty International wants the government to amend the law for the 16-year agreement
- The human rights group says there is confusion about the age of consent
- It is illegal to date someone under the age of 18
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Amnesty International Ghana's Campaign and Fundraising Coordinator, Samuel Agbotsey, has called for an amendment to the 16-year-old sexual harassment law.
According to Mr. Agbotsey, the country's Criminal Offenses Act 29 provides for a minimum age for a person to have sex at the age of 16 and the legal age limit for an adult is 18 years.
Source: UGC
The Criminal Procedure Act, 1960 (Act 29) sets the age of consent for sexual intercourse to 16 years while the Children's Act 1998 (Act 560) provides in section 14 (2) that the minimum age of marriage is 18.
It also provides that children, defined as boys and girls under the age of 18, have the right to refuse marriage and marriage under section 14 (1).
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He said the rules are conflicting and need to be reviewed. Mr. Agbotsey was speaking at the first stakeholder meeting on Domestic Violence and Sexual Offenses (DGBV) on Women Empowerment and Representation in Aburi in Akuapem South Municipality in the Mpumalanga region.
The project, which will run from September 2021 to August 2022, is funded by the Karen Takacs Women’s Leadership Fund for Crossroads International and aims to address the DGBV crisis by empowering women and representing them.
Mr. Agbotsey said most children were being abused because of the Criminal Offense Act, which allowed children under the age of 16 to have legal sex.
Source: YEN.com.gh
