GENDER AND PERCEPTIONS OF PERSONAL SECURITY IN GHANA

Abstract Peace and security are sine qua non for development; and they are intrinsically linked to demographic change. People are likely to move out en masses where there is extremely low personal security, real or perceived. Even in non-conflict societies, personal security is especially compromised through crime, persecution, domestic violence and public disorder. Perceptions of personal security determine people’s participation in social, economic and political activities, and have an impact on their physiological and psychological wellbeing. Ghana is a typical politically stable country that had a relatively lower score on personal safety in the 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance, compared with its own score on other indicators of governance. None of the explanations offered for Ghana’s lower score on personal safety has considered gender as an important demographic indicator. Men and women perceive crime, violence and threats differently based on their socialisation, which makes it imperative that any discourse on personal security takes into account gender dynamics in society. The system of patriarchy which is endemic in almost every society, coupled with cultures of masculinity and femininity, play significant roles in the way men and women perceive their personal security. This study uses a four-item scale from the sixth edition of the Ghana Living Standards Survey to provide gender-sensitive explanations for gender differences in the perception of personal security in Ghana. The results are consistent with existing literature, especially when fear facilitators and fear inhibitors are introduced into the analysis. Residential arrangements and type of place of residence, among others, were found to predict perceptions of personal security significantly. Fear inhibiting factors, like reliable security services and responsive governance, were found to provide positive associations with perceptions of personal security, with women responding more positively. The thesis argues that focusing on improving fear inhibitors can significantly enhance perceptions of personal security of people, and can reduce gender inequality gaps.