More than one-third of Ghanaians still believe it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife. That’s according to a report by the United Nations agency UN Women, which was set up earlier this year to champion the rights of women worldwide. The report dubbed: “Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice” also names Ghana as one of several countries where many women face injustices despite having a constitution that guarantees gender equality. That is, violence against women is still on the rise despite efforts to end it. “Violence against women and girls is both an extreme manifestation of gender inequality and discrimination, and a deadly tool used to maintain women’s subordinate status. No woman or girl is entirely free of the risks or reach of this global pandemic,” it said. The report said the rule of law has now become mere rhetoric and applies only in the public sphere. In private life however, this provision has been relegated to the background and women are the worst victims. “Historically, governments’ ambivalence towards regulating gender relations in the private domain and intimate relationships has been exemplified by the lack of domestic violence legislation, the reluctance to recognize marital rape as a criminal offence and the exemption of ‘crimes of honour’ from prosecution. This has contributed to a widespread perception that abuse of women in this sphere is acceptable,” the report said. “The duty of states to enact and implement legislation to prohibit violence against women and girls is well established in numerous international and regional conventions, declarations and treaties.” It says whilst about sixty percent of Ghanaians believe it’s bad to beat their wives the rest believe it is sometimes necessary. But to ensure a peaceful world, UN Women says violence against women must end. It has therefore called on governments to take a number of steps to end the injustices that keep women poorer and less powerful than men in every country in the world. Meanwhile gender advocacy group, Abantu for Development traces the situation to a long-held perception that women are only subordinates to men. Director of the group Rose Kutin believes it’s time to change the situation. “Unless we actually commit to changing the ways in which society has been structured; the ways in which women are perceived, then we cannot do so much but in the end we’ll not be able to see the impact among a wide range of women,” she said. Story by Fiifi Koomson/Joy FM/Ghana