It is against Ghana’s laws to marry a woman & refuse to chop her, except if the husband is away – Lawyer Anita Boateng
According to legal practitioner, lawyer Anita Boateng, who appeared on Kessben TV’s Mmaa Nkabi show with Akua Yeboah, in Ghana, it is unlawful for a man to marry a woman and then refuse to have sexual relations with her, at least under certain conditions she described.
She argued that, save for circumstances where the husband is away or travelling, a marital union carries with it a legal expectation of sexual intimacy.
Her remarks reference evolving norms and legal interpretations in Ghana regarding consent and marital duties. Historically, under the old law, a wife’s consent to sex was implied by virtue of marriage effectively meaning husbands could not be prosecuted for sexual intercourse with their wives, even if not consensual.
However, after the passage of the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732) and subsequent changes to the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), non-consensual sex, even within marriage, can constitute a criminal offence.
Boateng’s statement draws attention to that legal shift, underscoring that marriage does not automatically give a husband the right to sex at any time, especially if the wife does not consent. According to her, refusing sex without a valid reason, say the husband being away, undermines marital rights and could be considered unlawful under Ghana’s current legal framework.
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