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Gays in Ghana highly discriminated against - Report
The President of the HRW, Ms Wendy Isaack, called on the President to publicly condemn all threats and acts of violence against LGBT people.
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According to a report released by the HRW, Ghanaians who are homosexuals are discriminated against and abused for their sexual orientation in public and among families.
Launching the report in Accra on Monday, the President of the HRW, Ms Wendy Isaack, called on the President to publicly condemn all threats and acts of violence against LGBT people and appealed to Parliament to repeal Sections 104 (1b) of the Criminal Offences Act that criminalises adult consensual same-sex conduct.
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She further appealed for the amendment of Chapter 5 of the 1992 Constitution on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms to include a specific prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The report is titled “No Choice but to Deny Who I Am: Violence and Discrimination against LGBT People in Ghana.”
Ms Isaack said even though some measures are in place to protect Ghanaian homosexuals, they still face discrimination in their lives.
“Police officials and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) have taken some steps to protect LGBT people but they are still victims of physical violence and psychological abuse, extortion and discrimination in many aspects of their daily life.”
“Having a law on the books that criminalises adult consensual same-sex conduct contributes to a climate in which LGBT people are frequently victims of violence and discrimination,” she added.
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Outdooring the report she said they interviewed 114 LGBT people in Accra, Tamale, Kumasi, and Cape Coast in December 2016 and February 2017 and three representatives of human rights organisations based in Ghana, made up of a Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) complaints officer, an assistant police commissioner and three diplomats in Accra.
“Many of those interviewed said that the law contributed to a climate in which violence and discrimination against LGBT people was common. The provision is rarely if ever, used to prosecute people and unlike several of its neighbours, Ghana has not taken steps in recent years to stiffen penalties against consensual same-sex conduct or to expressly criminalise sexual relations between women,” the report said.
It, however, applauded the Ghana Police Service for regularly responding to abuses against LGBT people.
However, the HRW condemned comments made by the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Oquaye, in February 2017 describing homosexuality as an “abomination” and calling for stricter laws against same-sex conduct.
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It described President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s comments on LGBT in an interview with Al Jazeera as rather conciliatory.
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