Marriage, Faith, and Harm: A Feminist Analysis of Domestic Violence in Ghana Surname: Akomprah ID: 1414739

Abstract

This thesis explores how bride price (marriage) and Christian religious teachings intersect with domestic violence in Ghana, using a Ghanaian decolonial feminist standpoint. It centres the voices of survivors as co-creators, and treats their lived experiences as critical knowledge. Drawing on eight in-depth interviews with individuals who span across domestic violence survivors, domestic violence support workers, law enforcers and church leaders, the study examines how marriage is conceptualized, how religious teachings shape understandings of domestic violence in unions, and how survivors navigate harm when these systems overlap. The findings show that while bride price (marriage) is experienced to affirm value and social legitimacy, it also reinforces gendered expectations that shape individuals, particularly women’s, tendencies to endure violence. Furthermore, the thesis focuses on Orthodox Christian churches owing to their significant moral authority in the lives of their members, and whose teachings frame its members’ conceptualization of marriage. It also ascertains whether church responses to abuse differ based on the type of relationship the concerned couple is in. That is, if support differs amongst formalised marriages and informal or cohabiting unions, and what these reveal. Through situating this inquiry within African feminist and decolonial theoretical theorizations, the thesis challenges dominant narratives about scholarship around domestic violence and reiterates the importance of contextual, survivor-led approaches to understanding the same. It concludes by arguing that nuanced feminist approaches are essential for culturally grounded interventions that take seriously the emotional, spiritual, and structural dimensions of domestic violence and its support.