Recently a Ghanaian Member of Parliament suggested stoning was an acceptable punishment for women who cheated on their husbands. Ghana is secular country that doesn’t have a national religion. This politician wants to drag yet another developing nation back into the Stone Age by proposing regressive laws. Tell MP Nelson Baani and the rest of the Ghanaian Parliament that stoning women isn’t acceptable and demand that he apologize on the floor of parliament. Women in Africa already suffer grave levels of inequality; lets make sure we help them advance not fall back.
I am a Ghanaian-American citizen with a deep love for my motherland, and I strongly believe in the country’s potential. Yet Ghana is struggling to address many issues, not the least of which is women’s equality. Not too long ago a respected Ghanaian member of parliament took to the floor and asked his fellow members to consider stoning as an acceptable punishment for a woman committing adultery.  He even went so far as to suggest that he would offer up his own wife if she had the audacity to cheat on him.
Stoning in any context is a vile and inhumane act that goes against all of our human rights, but in a country like Ghana –  in which women for years have fought for their rights –  it’s doubly offensive. Mr. Baani’s statements on parliament floor are horrifying because  they make it seem as if this punishment is perfectly acceptable. Ghanaians are absolutely fed up with the flagrant disregard for extreme poverty, lagging education and now the seeking of sanctioned violence against women in the country.
This call to punish women – and women only – for the sin (not crime) of adultery by a standing member of parliament cannot be ignored.  This petition was created to show those in government that women are not property to be done with whatever they please. Women are human beings worthy of the rights we have fought so hard to gain. Ghana is not Mr. Baani’s or any other politician’s personal fiefdom. It is a democracy just like the United States. Ghanaian women deserve the same human rights enjoyed here, free from the threat of violence and sexism especially from our most prominent political figures.
As Ghana attempts to enter the digital age and compete in the global arena, our leadership must reject this form of barbaric thinking. Mr. Baani MUST understand that parliament is no place for his sexist, stone age views on gender, and certainly not a place to suggest violence against women. Tell Mr. Baani that his despicable comments won’t stand. Tell him you want to hear an apology now!
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