Question

Explain how power relations within the household affect men and women differently in Ghana. Include relevant examples where necessary.

Must be between 500 to 800 words

please the answer should be from the make point if view

Answer 1

An educated and healthy woman is a key contributor to the community and national development; however, women in Northern Ghana face challenges in these two areas due to gender inequalities. This thesis examines the influence of gender inequality amongst these rural women and girls through an analysis of the intersecting social relations of gender and poverty.

Hence, this draws on the gender experiences of the women and girls from the impoverished Northern Region of Ghana. It provides a critical analysis of the intersecting factors of the inequalities that result from inherent gender roles and the relations that exist in Ghana's social result of the lack of decisionand cultural structures making power, the lack of freedom of choice, mobility of girls, poverty and cultural beliefs. Ultimately, the inequalities result in unfavourable conditions that lead to the migration of girls from the North of Ghana to the South in search of economic opportunities. In this regard, this thesis also examines the gender experiences of Northern girls in the South. When the girls migrate to the South, they work as head porters in the city's markets and are consequently referred to as kayayei .

The intersectionality theory also aids in explaining how the gender experience and life chances of the women and girls in Ghana differ depending on their location and opportunities, which is statistically evident in education attainment and also in the gender equality achievement gap. For instance, girls in the capital, Accra, have better opportunities in education based on the economic status of the city and availability of school infrastructure, good transport network and trained teachers. This is not the case with the girls in the North. Likewise, the distribution of economic resources such as land, between men and women differs according to the social and cultural system of a particular community.

Accordingly, most of the communities in the Northern Regions follow strict gender roles in the division of labour. Women spend most of their time working between their homes and the fields as well as taking care of children. They do more household chores than their male counterparts, and this limits their time to take part in developmental community activities where they have a chance to address issues that concern them. Additionally, girls are socialised in roles like their mothers'; therefore, they help with household activities, and that impedes on their chances of attending school. However, if they attend school, these roles increase their chances of dropping out. Additionally, some traditional gender roles are reinforced by the general challenges affecting education in rural areas. For instance, the long distance to the school and poor road transport result in parents preferring to let girls stay at home and help with household chores instead of taking long trips to and from the school. Extreme poverty is another challenge in rural education, which makes parents choose to educate a boy and leave the girl at home to assist with income-generating activities. Besides, girls are expected to get married and join the husband's family, while the boy will remain within the family and provide financial support. Other critical challenges that reinforce traditional gender roles are high levels of illiteracy among parents and cultural practices and attitudes towards the role of women. However, the lack of education as well as financial resources among rural women affects their decision-making power. This has an impact on their health as they depend on the male figure of the family for financial support and permission to visit a health care facility the . The health of women in these communities is essentially in the hands of the men, who due to availability of financial resources and the power they possess as the head of the family, decide the kind of attention to give a woman’s health problem. The lack of education also has a direct impact on a woman's reproductive health and her child's nutrition and education. This thesis found that marry early and have more children and th women who are not educated eir children are more likely to Additionally, they usually do not put a value be stunted . on the education of their children, especially girls. Subsequently, this perpetuates the cycle of illiteracy and poverty among women and thus, the need for education. With education , women are in a better position to make independent decisions, gain economic power and contribute to sustainable development by reducing the population growth, providing education children and alleviating poverty and good nutrition to their . Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of gender roles and power relations on women's livelihood as it affects the development of a nation.