Women, communication and legal rights : an analysis of campaign channels of the Federation of Women Lawyers and the perspectives of selected Ghanaian women on these channels

Abstract

Legal information dissemination on inheritance and divorce laws is a thorny issue in most African countries, because the society is very much engrained in tradition and patriarchy. Such socio-cultural factors are a major hindrance to women attaining equal rights with men for their personal advancement and that of society as a whole. The near-neglect of women's needs and concerns in cases of divorce and inheritance in Ghana as in most African countries makes it imperative that they be made aware of existing laws to help them protect their rights. Women as part of society need to be viewed in the context of all societal groups, and thus their civil, politicaland social rights respected. This thesis is a modest attempt at analysing the legal information campaign channels of the Federation of Women Lawyers in Ghana. It is a non-governmental organization striving to make women aware of their rights in addition to providing them with free legal aid.

The study aims at finding out the effectiveness of these channels in light of the audience that the information is meant for. In addition is examining the perspectives of the recipients of this information, specifically, selected Ghanaian women. The central argument promoted in this thesis is that legal literacy educators in Ghana need to pay particular attention to the kind of channels used in their campaigns due to the quite high illiteracy rate among women. It is essential also to accommodate the traditional practices of people in the community in developing the campaign messages and process. Various studies have shown that people's acceptance of new ideas dependsmuch on the strategies adopted as well as the perceptions of the people, which are based in the main, by their values, norms and beliefs. This could be done by involving the traditional leaders and other opinion leaders in the communities who people in the community can best relate to. It is not only women who need education on legal matters, men could be equally ignorant. If women are to realize their full potential in Africa, men have to be reached as well with such vital information.