It is a known fact that gender inequality occur, more often than not, as men take offensive taste as they take certain pleasure in discriminating against women in enhancing their (men’s) self-respect, as the men end up discriminating against womanhood and subjecting women into a lesser liberty. However, women also contribute to gender inequality as they take offensive taste. This paper looks at how stepmothers perpetrate violence against their stepdaughters in Ghana and how such act contribute to gender inequality. The study was a longitudinal study which took place between 2005 and 2016. Stepdaughters were selected from four schools conveniently and observed for at most a three-year period. The findings were that the most frequent physical violence meted out to stepdaughters includes waking them up early from the bed, denying them of food, slapping, shaking, pushing and pulling, punching, choking, canning, scratching, pulling hair, hitting with an object, and, threatening. Also, stepmothers in the study area do not have mothering love for other people’s daughters but subject stepdaughters to psychologically, emotionally and physically oppression. The stepdaughters academic performances became affected thereby leading to majority of them dropped out of school. The study concluded that stepmothers in the study area take offensive taste by subjecting their stepdaughters to hardship and end up discriminate against womanhood and subject women to a lesser liberty thereby widen gender inequality.
Citation: Simon Kyei (2022) Stepmothers’ Violence against Stepdaughters in Ashanti Region of Ghana: A Hindrance to Gender Equality, International Journal of Sociology and Anthropology Research, Vol.8, No.2 pp.38-56
Keywords: : Academic Performance, Gender Inequality, Violence, stepdaughters, stepmothers
