Some N/R women endorse beating by husbands - Survey

Tamale, March 27, GNA - A survey conducted by the Northern Region Department of Women showed that the majority of women in the Northern part of the country enjoyed beating by their husbands and therefore endorsed it, saying it corrected lapses in marriage. Mr Patrick Seidu Zakari-Saa, the Northern Regional Director of the Department of Women, told the GNA in an interview in Tamale on Tuesday that the women saw nothing wrong with beating in marriage since women were created to respect their husbands.
He said a higher percentage of the women interviewed also believed and accepted that their husbands had the right of sex and could do everything including beating if their wives refused them sex. The Department of Women of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs and the Rural Media Network (RUMNET), a Tamale based NGO conducted the research.
Mr Zakari-Saa said women in the north also faced the problem of being neglected in decision-making at home adding that even though they worked for income they did not control the use of their incomes. Mr Zakari-Saa said the Domestic Violence Bill would not work successfully in the three northern regions where women and the people were still engaged in negative cultural practices.
He said women in the Northern Region remained poor due to higher interest rates on loans some nongovernmental organisation (NGOs) gave to them and that in some instances the women sold their property to enable them to pay back the loans.
Mr Zakari-Saa said some NGOs that gave credit facilities operated on interest rates of between 35 per cent and 40 per cent on the loans. When the GNA contacted Madam Grace Chilala of the Widows and Orphans Ministry, she confirmed the story and said; "some of the women even sell their cloth in order to pay the loans and this makes them poorer".