Silenced Twice: The pain of male rape in Ghana

A Ghanaian man has recounted how, as a child of fifteen years, he was repeatedly sexually abused by his stepmother’s cousin.

She was a woman he shared a bedroom with. “She holds my penis and fondles it a bit, and sometimes she brings it closer to her vagina. I didn't know how to call it back then,” he said, explaining that the woman threatened to starve him if he refused to do what she wanted. 

His story highlights a growing but largely unspoken concern: male victims of rape in Ghana often suffer in silence, with little legal protection.

Most men and boys in Ghana who face sexual abuse hardly come out to share their story

The Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), Section 97, defines rape as the act of having carnal knowledge of a female, who is sixteen years of age or older, without her consent. 

It is defined strictly as the penetration of a woman without consent, leaving male victims outside the scope of the law. 

In 2022, the Central Regional Director of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent George Appiah-Sakyi, stated that no man can be raped in Ghana. 

"In matters of rape, only girls and women can be raped in Ghana. No man can be raped in Ghana. That is the law- section 97," he stated.

A legal practitioner, Raymond Quaye ESQ., interviewed for this story, explained that this narrow definition denies justice to men.

“According to the definition of the law, it must be a penis penetrating the vagina without the consent of the woman........unfortunately, our Ghanaian law as it stands currently does not admit to men being raped," the lawyer said.

He emphasized that the law was created on old assumptions that no longer stand in the present.

Raymond Quaye ESQ., a legal practitioner calls for reforms in the law. 

Experts warn that beyond legal gaps, the psychological toll on survivors is severe.

Rev. Anthony Afriyie, a clinical psychologist shares the psychological impact of rape on men  

A clinical psychologist, Rev. Father Anthony Amponsah, explained that men often experience tonic immobility—a state of physical paralysis during the assault—and later struggle with catharsis, or the difficulty of expressing trauma.

“Because the laws of Ghana do not define rape on the other side, that's for men, their feelings are suppressed, and suppression of feeling ends up in a lot of guilt and depression," he said, stressing the need for more support systems for male survivors.

He further added that most of these men end up becoming sexual addicts. 

The Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Dr. Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, said her organization advocates for both genders when it comes to sexual violence in Ghana.

“We respond to male victims of sexual violence just as we respond to anybody who is facing gender-based violence," she stated.

The Ark Foundation offers advocacy for male survivors.

For survivors like the man abused in childhood, recognition is the first step toward healing. 

But until reforms are made, many victims of male rape in Ghana will remain trapped between silence, stigma, and a law that does not see them.

A victim of male rape shares his ordeal, and a clinical psychologist, Father Anthony Afriyie, discusses the impact of trauma on men.