Lecture:

Akosua Adomako Ampofo (Ghana):
Collective action for women's citizenship:
the Domestic Violence Bill becomes law in Ghana

Contemporary women’s movements and organisations constitute an area of prolific output in recent social science scholarship. Feminist scholars in the global South have focused much on the ways in which civil society organisations have addressed women’s rights. They have expanded the concept of rights and contributed to the democratisation process. Violence against women, and gender-based violence, have become an important arena for exploring the subject of women’s “rights” and citizenship. This evidences in the annual mobilisation of women globally around the theme “Sixteen Days of Activism against Gender Violence”.

This talk looks at the successful push by a coalition of women's rights and gender advocates for the passage of domestic violence legislation in Ghana. The bill was passed on 21st February 2007 after having been hotly debated since 2003. By using this case, this talk analyses new models of struggles for recognition of citizenship in Africa.

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Date: Monday, 14 September 2009, 12:15 - 13:45 hrs
Venue: Zentrum Gender Studies Universität Basel, Steinengraben 5, Seminarraum 104
Info: stephan.meyer@unibas.ch, +41 61 267 06 44

The series "Violence - Gender perspectives from Ghana and South Africa" is hosted by the Afrika-Komitee, the Zentrum Gender Studies and the Centre of Competence on Africa.