Culture is defined as being “the ideas, customs, and social behavior of a particular people or society”.
When you travel, it is, therefore, best to look up what the culture of the nation you will be visiting is like in terms of etiquette, social interaction and, for example, rules for tipping.
Unfortunately, culture also means that some older societies tend to stick a bit longer to ancient ideas than the rest of the world. The ‘western’ civilization as it is known, the northern American continent, part of Asia (Japan, Taiwan, and South Korean come to mind) and Europe, still only make up 10-15% of the global population.
In Ghana, Africa, the local ‘culture’ still means that the community Gods of a tribe can decide whether something is deemed a crime or not.
So when the tribe’s son raped a four-year-old girl two weeks ago, apparently the community Gods decided it was not a crime and the 18-year-old still roams free whilst a GoFundMe-page had to be setup to pay for reconstructive surgery for the little 4-year old girl that he raped.
However, all this could change now that Ghana's police chief Mr. David Asante-Apeatuhas summoned the commander of the Central Region for questioning. The public outcry over the case’s handling has gotten too big for politicians to ignore in fact.
Radio and social media conversations in the central African nation have been humming with the hashtag #JusticeForHer trending on social media.
An online petition calling on Ghana’s attorney general, Miss Gloria Akuffo, to end interference in these widespread rape and abuse cases gathered thousands of signatures already.
A human rights campaigner for the region, Ms. Yemisi Parker-Osei who setup the online petition explained the small rights poor people have in these matters: “A child is raped in Ghana. The police may not be automatically involved. Her recourse to medical and legal assistance is wholly dependent upon her family’s economic and social status. More often than not, her family will be offered a small payment by the rapist to ensure his anonymity. Often, he will escape justice altogether. Adult victims may be forced to marry their perpetrators. No concrete family, social or therapeutic support is given.”
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