[Christiane] Ghana.
The fastest growing economy in Africa.
And yet...
[Archbishop] The roads are bad.
Everything is tough and difficult.
And you need to develop a strong faith and audacity
to survive in this system.
♪ You're in a trance ♪
♪ Darkness to birth Your light ♪
♪ Just say my name ♪
♪ I'll blow the dragon’s breath On your face ♪
[Christiane] What happens when religion colors every aspect
of love, sex, and relationships?
Welcome to Accra.
[laughing]
[theme music playing]
[priest] Tell me, what is your problem with our religion?
That you’ve come all the way from your country
to find out about it?
[Christiane] I first came to Ghana 20 years ago,
to do a story on Trokosi,
a religious practice taking place
in a remote corner of the country.
What crime is this child paying for?
[priest] Her uncle committed adultery.
[Christiane] Young virgins were forced to marry tribal priests,
to pay for crimes committed by their families.
[priest] Death will strike your family
unless you bring a young virgin to us.
[Christiane] Their lives became a nightmare
of manual labor and sexual servitude.
Ever since that story,
I’ve been haunted by the faces of those girls,
forced to endure abuse,
all in the name of tribal religion.
I’ve come back to Accra to find out how things have changed.
[Archbishop] Jesus Christ, the son of the living God.
Give it to him,
for he alone is ready.
In the name of Jesus. Like never before.
Let God arise. Let his enemies be scattered.
Put your hands together, somebody, give him praise!
[Christiane] It’s Sunday morning
in a charismatic, Christian church.
The service is packed to the rafters
with passionate worshippers,
dressed in their very best and listening rapt to the sermon.
It could be anywhere in the U.S. heartland, but it’s not.
It’s Accra, capital of the West African country of Ghana.
Ghana calls itself one of the most religious places on Earth.
Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Mormon, Methodist...
It seems there’s a church on every corner,
and indeed there may be.
Ghana has 700 Christian sects,
and around 71,000 individual congregations.
Since religion often links guilt and shame
with sex and the female body,
I’m wondering how love and relationships can function here.
What are the sexual habits of people who identify
as one of the most Christian countries in the world?
[Archbishop] So many people think that one of the causes of divorce
is only adultery. It’s not true.
Selfishness.
Greed. If you are selfish, don’t marry
because marriage is never about you.
If you marry the woman because she is very slim...
And she’s very wonderfully made...
And if your motive and reason for marrying a woman
is because she looks a particular way,
when she starts making babies and changing,
the reason for the marriage is over.
[Christiane] Moesha Boduong is an actress and model
who’s gained a huge following on social media
by flaunting her sizable assets.
And like many women in Ghana,
she keeps herself impeccably primped and polished,
anticipating what the day might hold.
Oh, that’s nice!
Will I get a man here with that color nail?
[laughs]
Give me your, give me your "I’m just meeting you
and I want to attract you" look.
You know, like I have a big bum,
so I just walk up and down...
[laughs]
[Christiane] Are Ghanaian women as body-obsessed,
as look-obsessed as women in the West?
[Moesha] Yeah, they are.
They care for their skin, their body.
Any beauty product, anything that has to do with the skin.
[Christiane] And you work in beauty products?
I mean, you’re an actress.
Yes, I’m an actress and I’m signed for a stretch marks cream,
and a pussy, vagina tightening gel.
What?
Vagina tightening gel. It tightens the vagina.
- Yeah? - [Christiane] Are you serious?
And people get it a lot. Like so many girls use it.
- [Christiane] And why? - More pleasure.
[Christiane] For who?
[Moesha] For your man. [Christiane] For your man?
Your boyfriend or your husband. Yes.
And what about for you?
[Moesha] In Ghana especially, we try to please the man first.
That’s why we use all these things,
to just make them enjoy the sex.
We please our men before we think about ourselves.
You need to be a freak in the sheets.
"You need to be a freak in the sheets"?
Yes, to keep your man.
[laughs]
That’s why I’m the favorite mistress.
I’m dating a married man.
- Really? - And I’m in love with him.
- Are you? - Very.
[gasps] And is that normal?
When a married man comes up to you, it’s something very normal.
Very, very normal. Married men
come up to single girls and date them.
They have mistresses and they have even girlfriends.
So, sorry. They have a wife, a mistress, and a girlfriend?
- [Moesha] Girlfriend. - You’re kidding me?
That’s the truth.
Are you a mistress or a girlfriend?
I’m a girlfriend, but I’m trying to get to mistress.
Crikey. So, it’s wife, mistress, girlfriend.
So you’re at the bottom of this pyramid?
Yes. Mistresses are like the special girlfriends.
They’re like, they’re like next to the wife.
But I thought Ghanaian society looked down
on women who have sex out of marriage.
They do. It’s not a good thing, but it’s like, it happens everywhere.
When you leave your husband because he has a mistress or a girlfriend,
your next husband is going to do the same thing.
Ladies, are you listening to this conversation?
[Christiana] Yes, yes, we are.
[Christiane] And, and what do you think of it?
[Christiana] It’s true.
Everything she said is true.
[Christiane] "Everything she said is true"?
Yes. Yes.
[Christiane] Moesha, you’re a Christian, right?
I’m a Christian.
And so, how does this all play in with your religious belief?
-I’m a loyal mistress. So, I’m good. -[laughs]
You’re a Christian mistress.
I’m Christian... I’m loyal
and the wife knows about me.
What I’m doing is not hurting anyone or causing pain.
Ghana, it’s like our economy is just such in a way
that you just need someone to take care of you.
Why? Because you can’t make enough money?
You can’t make enough money...
- As a woman here? - As a woman here,
because even when you want to get an apartment
in Ghana, you pay two years in advance and I just started working.
Where would I get money to pay for an apartment for two years?
Are you basically telling me that you’re having sex with this guy,
essentially to pay your rent?
Because he can afford to take care of you.
He takes care of me, my financial stuff,
my apartment, my car, my rent, everything. Yes.
And, Christiana, the same for you?
Well, I’m not dating a married man.
-So you’re dating a single man? -Yes.
-Who, nonetheless, can take care of you. -Yeah.
And what does he ask of you for that?
What do you have to do for him?
Like, to have time for him,
make sure you give him good food, and then,
when he wants to have fun you make sure you’re ready.
What does your man expect of you?
Wants me to be loyal and just to date him, only him,
and give him some sex when he wants.
And what if you said "no" one day?
He turns up at your house and you’ve got a headache.
What does he say?
You can’t say no. You have to give him what he wants.
And what if you don’t want it that day?
That means he’s going to think you are cheating on him.
Holy cow.
Yeah, he’s going to think you’re cheating on him.
And does your man have more mistresses?
Yes.
Does your boyfriend cheat on you, Christiana?
Well, not that I know of, at the moment.
If you get everything you need,
you’re like "Oh, it’s normal."
It’s normal.
You are very comfortable and secured in your future.
You may be comfortable and your future may be secured.
Would you be happy?
Well...
[Moesha] Love... I don’t think true love works in Ghana.
♪ Sit down Let's have a drink ♪
♪ Let's talk a little bit ♪
♪ I know we have a life ♪
♪ To say... ♪
[Christiane] With the state of love somewhat in tatters,
what about the state of marriage?
What does being married mean for the average woman here?
I start chatting with these two ladies,
both of whom have tied the knot.
You know, culturally, when you’re going into marriage, as a woman,
the elderly women, gather you
- and they give you advice. - Yeah.
They advise you what a woman is supposed to do.
So they tell you as a wife, you cook,
you take care of your children. You always have to make sure that
food is ready. You always have to make sure the house is clean.
They tell you all these things.
In Ghana, we say a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.
- "Through his stomach"? - Through his stomach.
Okay. This isn’t through his stomach though.
No. As a woman, you need to know how to cook.
- Right. - Now, another thing...
[laughing]
I lose.
Another thing that you have to also do
is to be able to satisfy him sexually.
- Yes. - Now this is one of the things
-[Christiane] This is one of the things... -...to attract him.
[Christiane] A simple strand of waist beads.
Today they are mostly just decorative,
tantalizingly out of plain sight...
But in the past, these beads signaled a woman’s coming of age to marry
and to bare babies
in a society that valued her only as a wife and mother.
[Maame Hawa] It’s very attractive for men.
-Why? -Yes. Because that’s our tradition.
What we use differentiates a man and a woman.
But do they hang on to them? What do they do with them?
-They actually just like to see it. -Just look at them.
And during the sexual act, they like to touch it
as well and play with it. The fact that it shakes,
-you know the rippling, it’s just amazing for them. -Really?
[Christiane] So, but here is the thing.
I mean, really, do we really want to be doing all this just to attract men?
Or, am I being just too feminist?
Well, if you want to keep your man...
"If you want to keep your man"?
[Roslyn] There are so many things to do.
Whenever your husband needs you, you have to avail yourself.
And have sex when they want to.
And have sex when they want.
Even when you don’t feel like it.
You know, even in churches! Even churches, they preach it.
We go into the marriage knowing our responsibilities.
That this is my place in the marriage
and this is the man’s place in the marriage.
We hear, you know, that Ghanaian men aren’t that faithful.
They do a lot of cheating.
-But girls can’t do that. Can they? -No.
And if a woman should be caught having an affair,
the church will solicit for a divorce.
But when a man is caught,
they actually say that he should just apologize,
repent, and then marriage is back on.
- Talk about double standards. - Yeah.
♪ My baby doesn’t care For show ♪
♪ He likes to spend Time outdoors ♪
♪ He wanders around In the dark streets ♪
♪ And comes home When I’m already asleep ♪
[Christiane] In the feverishly Christian capital of Accra,
I’ve just heard from some of the women
that many Sunday morning saints
are busy sinning the rest of the week,
in a culture where male infidelity seems socially acceptable,
like a badge of honor.
[Christiane] Um, Nice One, as a man... [Nice One] Yeah.
...do you have a wife?
I get one wife. Only one wife.
Is that your first wife?
That’s my first wife. I only have one wife.
[Christiane] Nice One, as this gentleman happily goes by,
offers a man’s perspective on love and marriage.
And where did you meet? How did you meet?
In the field of playing,
In front of the King’s Palace.
I’m a footballer.
And I scored a goal.
-[laughs] -When I score, I’m happy, this lady is clapping.
And someone come and tell me, "Hey, Nice One,
that lady over there is speaking about you!"
So, after the game I approached her.
And meanwhile, she also loved me.
- Oh my gosh! - Now, we be in a partnership.
And do you cheat?
- Come again? - Do you cheat?
- I can’t cheat. - Cheat.
Cheat. I can’t cheat. The reason why is that,
you know, I’m a poor person before we married.
So, we understand each other.
So when I have money, I let them know.
Today I have money,
"Sandra, let’s share this money."
This is really interesting.
You said, you don’t cheat because you’re a poor person.
Would you say, that the men who cheat
- are mostly the rich people... - Yeah.
...who can afford to have a wife and a mistress and a girlfriend?
Yes. Because of their money.
When you are rich, you can decide to choose any woman at all you want.
But I’m a poor person. I have to stay with one lady.
If you don’t have money, some of the women, they don’t like you.
Right.
[Christiane] But what about women who have their own money?
For decades, women have played a vital role
as traders in markets throughout Accra,
a tradition that dates back to the old days
when women took up trading
while their men took up arms and went off to war.
Jamestown Market is gritty, and smoky, and smelly, and fishy.
It's a hard scrabble living.
Here too, the women are in charge.
Scaling and hawking the catch and generally running the show.
- Are you a fish seller here? - Yeah.
Who are the most important people in this market?
[in Native language] Women, women, women.
The women are the most important? Why is that?
It is the women’s job.
[Christiane] Dozens of women own fish stalls,
but Obi is an exception, she owns a fishing boat.
[Christiane] Are the men your employees?
Yes.
So, they work for you?
- Yes. - So, you’re the boss?
Oh, she’s going? Ah well, she’s a woman of...
[yelling in Native language]
[Christiane] Off she goes! [Nice One] Yeah, yeah.
[Christiane] She’s gone to get the catch. [Nice One] Yeah.
[Christiane] So she’s a strong woman, isn’t she?
[Nice One] She’s a strong woman.
Sometimes, if you’re a man, and you don’t behave, she’ll beat you.
-She’ll beat you? -So, everybody was afraid of her.
They’re afraid of her.
[Christiane] Further inland, we meet Madam Mercy.
As the "Market Queen" of all markets in Greater Accra,
she’s a woman who’s achieved great status and wealth.
[Christiane] Oh, your rings! I mean, they're very, very ornate.
[Madam Mercy] Yes, usually as a Market Queen,
you are to adorn yourself to your status.
-[Christiane] So, this is all status for you? -Yes.
Very, very important position. Very, very prestigious.
- [Christiane] "Prestigious." - And very, very tiring.
[laughs]
The fact that women are setting up their own businesses,
you know, selling the fish, etc.,
does that give them a certain status, a certain independence?
Yes. The men find it very difficult to dominate you,
because if you want money and the man said no,
it means that day you won't eat.
But if you are independent,
you can use your own money to buy the food
and maybe you give some to the man.
So, do you think that you and your husband
shared the workload, or would you say the woman does more?
Uh...
Naturally, as a married woman, you have to do more.
-You have to do more, or you do more? -Yes,
because the tradition says the husband is the head,
so you don't expect your husband to do the washing.
You don't expect your husband to do the cooking.
Okay, physical satisfaction? What about sex?
What about feeling good?
What about the right to be as satisfied as he is?
Physical satisfaction.
If you know that historically,
African men are very good.
You know it.
They have the strength. They have the power.
That’s why they even think of marrying one or two.
So sex is how you train your man.
Because my husband was a chief,
when he’s going to bath, he would put on towel,
I would push the towel. "Oh, oh, oh, oh." I say, "Oh, what?"
So you would push his towel away?
Yes. I would say, [speaks in Native] "I have seen it,
so why should you cover it?"
So, you were flirting with your own husband?
Yes. It’s up to you to just lure him into foreplay.
[Christiane] Talking to people in the cities,
and just out here in Jamestown,
you get a sense that a lot of men
-cheat. -A lot of men, but not all men.
- Mine didn't do it. - He didn't.
Because he, already officially, we were two.
I’m the second wife, with two wives.
- How... - He didn't need to.
- Yes. - I see.
Were you jealous of her?
No, not as such.
What about love? What about happiness?
- You know, fulfillment? - Love is love.
Right.
As love means in your country,
love means the same thing in our country.
But, sometimes the man will be with more than one wife.
So the love has to be shared.
[Christiane] Do you talk about these things often?
Ah, because of...
[Christiane] I mean, I'm a stranger and I'm sitting next to you,
asking you all these personal questions,
and you're being very, very open, and honest, and frank.
Ah, yes, because maybe by being open
will save somebody's life.
By being open, it will save somebody's marriage.
[singing in foreign language]
[Christiane] It’s your wedding day and hope springs eternal,
with the promise of love and happiness ever after.
Connie is about to hitch her hopes
and her future to Ebenezer, in a traditional, Ghanaian ceremony.
The groom’s family brings a dowry of gifts
to be examined by the bride’s family.
First the women, then the men.
The families are here. Are we really to accept
these presentations,
which are being brought or have been brought,
for your hand in marriage?
Yes, please.
[Christiane] Already dressed in her finery,
Connie accepts, in what’s largely a formality,
and then Ebenezer’s ushered in.
This couple’s came to the altar,
fully committed and full of faith.
That’s what brought them together in the first place.
[Connie] My first boyfriend, yeah.
We met at a church. I like his behavior,
'cause he’s cool and then humble,
and then God-fearing.
If we have the Holy Book, that we all take inspiration from,
it will be very easy for the two parties to relate,
to grow old beside each other.
[Christiane] But for the rest of their marriage,
will they really be equals, under God and in the eyes of their Christian faith?
With this ring, on the house of Connie,
every civilized man will keep away from Connie,
because this is the token of, a man’s love to Connie!
Hence, every man should keep away.
[emcee] We are so glad you made it this morning.
Praise the Lord. I will sing. I will shout.
I will praise the Lord.
Hallelujah! And how shall we welcome the father of the house,
the Papa.
[Christiane] Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams,
affectionately known as Papa,
is the head of Action Chapel,
and a kind of Sunday morning celebrity.
Hallelujah.
Amen.
[Christiane] Thousands of worshippers, men and women,
look to him for guidance in navigating their lives,
and their marriages.
[Archbishop] You know I’ve been watching sister
Christiane Amanpour for many, many years on CNN
and I like her very much and Amen.
Good to have you and everyone, good to be in church.
Genesis 2:15. Genesis 2:15.
And the Lord God took the man
and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
That was God’s sovereign act,
God’s sovereign act.
He took the man, put him in the garden,
and said, "I’ll give you the responsibility
to protect the garden and to keep it."
That was the beginning of the Fall of Man.
[Christiane] Why do you think it is that in scripture,
in the Christian faith,
women are being portrayed kind of as the temptress,
kind of as a little bit naughty, devilish?
Eve ate the apple and cast
man and woman out of the Garden of Eden.
I think women are vulnerable
because they are emotional beings.
Very passionate. And the devil is a counterfeiter.
So, he uses anything God uses.
They put the blame on women when it comes to the Fall of Man,
But I have an issue with that.
I disagree with that.
It was equal responsibility,
because that man, according to scripture, was standing right there.
And when the devil was speaking to the woman,
he didn't interfere, he didn't interrupt the conversation...
[Christiane] So, he should have done?
He should have, because he's the head of the family.
He didn't interrupt the conversation.
He heard what the devil said to the woman,
he allowed the woman to eat of the fruit of the tree,
and then the woman gave it to him
and he took it from her and ate it.
We've asked enough people enough questions
to understand here that there is a lot of sex going on,
a lot of casual sex, a lot of sex out of marriage.
We’ve been talking to a lot of women who say that,
you know, they feel, you know,
like second class citizens in their marriage.
That the husband, for whatever reason,
can drop them or can take other wives, can cheat.
Do you find a lot of that?
And how do you counsel men in that regard?
I come from a family, I have 43 siblings.
Forty-three siblings?
Yeah. My father had a lot of kids. And um...
-[Christiane] With different wives? -With different wives.
And it’s a culture thing.
Our job is to present the alternative
to what prevailed here,
before the truth or the Gospel or the light came.
Is there sort of a nod and a wink to the guys?
No, no, no. When it comes to the church and scripture,
we’re very firm on what scripture says and it cuts across.
I think that if a woman understands
her purpose and assignment,
you make yourself valuable.
What does that mean to you?
You play a very important role in the life of the man,
which was the original intent of God for instituting marriage.
For God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone.
And therefore, I, God, will give the man a helpmate."
And the meaning of the helpmate
is one that will surround you with aid and assistance.
I believe, biblically,
that the need of every man is respect and honor,
and the need of every woman,
it doesn't matter what your culture, tradition, or color of your skin is,
is love and security.
How is it going to work, that dynamic, that equation,
as more and more women are going into the workplace, for instance?
More and more women are becoming
more and more independent here,
just like they are in the rest of the world.
Do you think woman deserves respect and honor, too?
I will say that respect is not something you demand. You earn it.
You don’t have to tell anybody, "Respect me!"
You know? They just have to do it
because you know what you’re about.
[Christiane] An encounter between a Ghanaian woman
and a pair of Christian pastors,
where art seems to imitate life.
God has revealed something to us about you.
You need prayer to solve your problem.
We need to pray for you from the head, to your toes.
- Don't touch me, please. - We are men of god!
- Stop it! - No, in the spirit of...
[Azizaa] The young overzealous pastors will do and say anything
in the name of Jesus or in the name of God.
And they tend to violate women’s privacies
and sometimes they actually physically grab you.
"Come, let me preach to you." It was a personal experience.
- You had that happen to you? - Yeah.
♪ Submit to me ♪
♪ Tell me your evil deeds ♪
♪ Taste my kiss of death ♪
♪ I'll blow the dragon’s breath on your face ♪
[Christiane] Azizaa Mystic
is a controversial and outspoken Ghanaian singer.
♪ I’m the Black Magic Woman ♪
[Christiane] Her graphic lyrics and provocative image
keep her firmly at odds with the status quo.
I catch up with her backstage while she’s getting ready for a gig.
♪ Dreaming of aliens from the sky ♪
[Azizaa] New age Christianity.
That’s Ghana’s biggest problem right now.
When the slave traders came,
they came with the Bible in one hand
and the gun in the other hand.
I think it became that people had to convert to Christianity
just to save their lives.
It was the one thing that saved them.
But yet, it’s the one thing that’s killing them.
I mean it’s easy to call women sluts here.
Just the other day, when I left rehearsal,
we were in a car and this driver tried to cut us off.
Now he drives past us he goes, "Ashou!"
[laughs] Which means prostitute.
Christianity.
Yeah, I blame it all on Christianity.
[Christiane] Your art is about what?
About, about trying to go back to the roots?
Yes,
I believe our ancestors left a message for us,
which is "sankofa."
Which means going back to your roots.
And, I do believe that our future
is behind us.
[Christiane] Azizaa practices West African beliefs
that were in Ghana centuries before Christianity arrived.
Christians called it "demonic."
[Christiane] You know, we know the word voodoo in the West,
but here, it's... How do you say that here?
Vodun.
- Vodun? - Yeah.
And what exactly does that mean?
It means spirits.
- That’s all? - That’s it.
[Christiane] Believers say they are surrounded by a world of spirits,
of dead ancestors, and other supernatural deities.
And these spirits can be called upon to intercede
through rituals and sacrificial offerings, or voodoo.
[Azizaa] Practicing voodoo or vodun
is basically or simply put, being one with nature.
And one of your songs is called Voodoo Pussy.
Yeah, Voodoo Pussy.
♪ Burning with all your desires ♪
♪ I see it in your eyes ♪
[Azizaa] It started off as my friends from other tribes, guys,
telling me that their mothers warned them
not to deal with Ewe women.
-Really? Stay away from people like you. -Yeah. That was my reaction.
Yes. They said our Vodun is too strong
and we make them forget their families.
From the men’s perspective,
they said we have something going on down there.
♪ Call it Voodoo Pussy ♪
♪ Ai, ai, Voodoo Pussy ♪
♪ Ai, ai ♪
[Christiane] It seems that it’s part of your emancipation.
Yeah, it is.
I don’t want to be vulgar,
but I feel like women really need to understand their power.
It’s not only from just using your brain but this too, the womb.
This is everything.
We’re the mothers of creation. We birth nations.
Once you’re a woman
and you feel like you’re 100% woman, all woman,
then you should be able to say you have Voodoo pussy.
♪ We cook, we clean we fight, we fuck ♪
♪ Back, we call it, "Voodoo Pussy" ♪
♪ Ai, ai ♪
[Christiane] Are you in a relationship? [Azizaa] No.
[both laughing]
- You knew that was coming. - I didn't.
Like, having a man doesn’t validate me.
What I do in life, how I help people
is what validates my work here on earth.
♪ Voodoo pussy ♪
Thank you!
Thank you.
[Christiane] This is a Trokosi slave girl, right? A Trokosi girl?
How old is this little girl?
[Brigitte] I’m seven years old.
[Christiane] Do you know why you’re here?
No.
Do you like it here?
Do you miss your parents?
[Christiane] Her name was Brigitte
and she was the youngest of the Trokosi girls I met here 20 years ago.
It was Brigitte who brought me back to Accra after all these years.
And we’re about to meet again, face to face.
Hi, there!
Oh, my God!
I’m gonna cry too!
Oh, my goodness! I can’t believe this!
[crying]
Thank you so much.
We did some good, huh? We did some good.
You did.
It’s incredible that you’re free. I can’t believe it.
And all my life I’ve been waiting to see you
-but I didn’t think it would be in Ghana. -Aw.
Thank you.
[Christiane] After the story aired on 60 Minutes,
Brigitte Perenyi was adopted by an American
and came to live in Florida.
My adopted father now, he saw the video and he contacted,
he contacted CBS.
And literally, they plucked you out?
- He had to pay for my freedom. - Did he?
-Because he asked for money to be paid. -How much?
I was told over $10,000.
Wow.
He said I saw a little girl in the video,
something in her eyes was calling for me.
What a good man.
I was really afraid
because I didn’t know whether you were, you know, were gonna get
-abused, assaulted, you know, sexually. -After.
But you know, because of you, I didn’t, you know, um,
when you are in the shrine, after your first menstrual cycle,
they force, they rape the girls.
-After you have your first period? -Yes.
But when you, because of your video,
I, when I came out, a month later.
A month later, I started.
-A month after us you started your period? -Yes.
-And? -You know if I had stayed in there,
if you hadn’t come,
it’s like, you know I often think about this.
My life, I would’ve, I don’t know what my life would’ve been like.
But I just wanna make sure, you were not physically attacked? You weren’t raped.
No.
Thank God. Thank God for that.
You must’ve seen others who were?
I heard. Before you, you hear them.
You hear them.
Because you know, they, they screaming,
you know, in the middle of the night.
They are screaming
to, to get themselves away from, from these men.
[Christiane] And this still goes on?
Yes.
So now, for me, I am trying to start a dialogue.
I want, I want people to know that it’s happening.
[Christiane] Brigitte now works as a human rights activist,
splitting her time between America and Accra.
I just finished my Master’s Degree.
Yeah. It’s amazing.
In International Relations and Human Rights.
[Christiane] Oh, that’s so great.
You, you’re young, you’re 26.
But how much do you think this has affected you
and, I mean, you have, do you have romantic relationships? Do you...
Um, yeah I have. I...
Like, I sort of, I don’t have...
I don’t really, have a trust, I, I don’t really like...
There’s this thing about trusting a man
and trusting someone to sort of,
um, be free and be yourself with?
Are you a Christian now?
I am. I just recently kind of made that decision for myself.
You know, there are some people here,
and we’ve spoken to some,
who feel very much like Christianity
is the white man’s burden on Africa and on Ghana
and they want to go back to the strength that Ghanaians had
in their traditional, cultural practices.
You see, tradition, culture,
it’s supposed to be about the continuity of the people.
It’s supposed to celebrate life.
For me, any tradition that, um,
that infringes on the rights of others is not a tradition.
It’s not culture, it’s not Ghanaian.
It’s not African. You can’t do that.
[Mama Zimbi] Wonderful listeners, it’s a special show for you.
In the studio today, Christiane Amanpour.
We also have Dr. Sylvia, the number one gynecologist.
I’m here, your one and only, akumaa Mama Zimbi.
So call into the show and let us know
what is really eating you up. Here on 106.3 FM.
[Christiane] In Ghana, radio is not only the most reliable form of media,
it’s also the one with the farthest reach.
So just maybe, it is the best way to begin a kind of revolution!
[Mama Zimbi] Oh, you don’t know how to make love?
I’m here to teach you, to educate you.
[Christiane] Mama Zimbi is the host of Ghana’s number one
radio show on marriage, love, and sex.
[caller] Hello? Mama Zimbi? I’m very shy to talk about this.
My husband only wants to have sex two times a week,
but I want to have it every day.
Oh, I see.
[Christiane] Much like the pioneering work of Dr. Ruth in 1980’s America,
Mama Zimbi’s show is pushing all the boundaries,
lifting sex talk out of a purely religious context,
and helping women take back control of their sexuality.
[Christiane] Mama Zimbi, you know we just heard about this girl
who wants to have it all the time.
-[Mama Zimbi] Yeah. -What are the sex positions that you advise?
If the husband is tired, watching TV,
you can just sit on him and then easy...
He will just be like this, like that, like this, like that.
So the husband is just gonna support you like that and just easy.
I hear a lot of women who cry desperately,
you know, because they’re not
-getting sexual satisfaction in their marriages. -The moment... Yes.
And you see, they’ve just kept quiet. It’s a taboo.
They don’t talk about it.
They don’t talk about it and it’s killing them slowly.
And because of that, too,
they are not able to educate their children about sex.
That's an interesting question.
How the younger generation is being
raised and educated.
[Dr. Sylvia] We just talk about the biology of sex.
We don't talk about sexual relations anymore.
So, there’s a yawning gap waiting to be filled.
So men, please, it’s a two-way affair.
I know you are listening.
Some will get angry,
but Mama Zimbi, you know, I just say as it is.
[Christiane] Further proof that women in Accra
are ready to speak more openly about intimate topics?
The popularity of TV shows like An African City
where Nicole Amarteifio and Maame Adjei
portray Ghanaian women as modern,
and successful and not afraid to talk frankly about sex.
Why won’t you go down on me? I need you to go down on me.
I’m a Ghanaian man. I don’t go down on women.
- It’s just not our culture. - Excuse me! "Not our culture"?
There’s nothing Ghanaian about going down on a woman.
It’s an overseas thing. It’s a Western thing.
I don’t care if it’s from Pluto.
It feels good. I like it. I need you to do it.
What about me going down on you? Huh? What’s that?
That’s different.
Ha! Of course it is!
So tell me about women. I mean here you are.
I mean, look, you two could not present a more modern,
confident, empowered image.
Has it always been like that? I mean do people talk about sex here?
Absolutely. I think women talk about sex all the time in Africa,
it's just that we talk about it behind closed doors.
So what An African City has done,
which is sort of "put our business out in the streets,"
quote-unquote is different.
One of the goals of An African City is to show women
that sex is for them.
Now, that's a message all women need around the world.
But, sex is for you.
And I think there was a point in our history
in which we were told that sex is not for us.
Sensuality, sexuality was not for us.
Even the opposite. If you did seek it or indulge in it,
you were somehow wicked.
- [Maame Adjei] Absolutely. - You were wicked.
Exactly. An African City, you indulge in it, and it's great.
-It's fine. -Because it's your choice, right? It's your choice.
It's how I choose to live my life.
I feel like Christianity, what it's done that's been a disservice to us,
it’s sort of forced us to not be critical thinkers
and just not be aware of where we're from.
Whereas, within our tradition and culture,
we are sexual, women are powerful and sexual.
[Christiane] Religion informs everything here in Accra
and the church seems to be sending mixed messages
about marriage, dating,
and what’s expected of Ghanaian women.
But more and more women are speaking out,
using media to share stories about sex and sex-ed,
championing the idea that women too deserve respect and honor,
in addition to love and security,
and reclaiming their own personal and sexual space.
So, what do the most religious people in the world
have to say about sex and love?
[Mama Zimbe] Welcome to the show.
[caller] Mama Zimbee, I have a problem.
[Mama Zimbee] Okay, go ahead.
[Christiane] Evidently, a lot.