Dealing With Rape Cases in Ghana: The Law, the Victim and the Offender

Rape is a criminal offence in all countries of the world. However, what constitutes rape in the legal sense differs from country to country, with many common law countries sharing some similarities in their definition of rape. This paper conducts a critical review of the crime of rape in Ghana by discussing what constitutes rape under Ghanaian law, its key elements which a prosecution has to prove to succeed on a charge of rape, and the challenges of adjudicating rape cases in Ghana, paying particular attention to the victim. Furthermore, the manuscript offers some useful recommendations on improving current practice. Among the challenges identified as militating against the successful prosecution of rape cases in Ghana are the high poverty level resulting in the lack of money to pay for the costs of forensic medical examination by the victim, stigmatisation and ridicule of rape victims, lack of social and psychological support for the victims of rape, the unduly long period adjudication of rape cases take, the gender-specific definition of rape, and the general inadequate or lack of reformative services for rape prisoners. The paper recommends that the state of Ghana should take steps to tackle these challenges in order to promote justice for rape victims, while effectively dealing with the perpetrators of such crimes. These steps could include, the State covering the costs of forensic medical examination for rape victims through the National Health Insurance Scheme, intensifying public education on rape and its consequences, especially on the victim, and amending the definition of rape to make it gender-neutral instead of gender-specific. This paper will be useful to legal, psychological, and sociological researchers in Ghana and the world over.