The Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) has proposed amendments to Ghana’s 1992 Constitution aimed at strengthening the protection of children’s rights, with particular focus on intersex children and bodily autonomy.
In its recommendations, the Committee called for changes to Article 28 of the Constitution to explicitly guarantee every child’s right to bodily integrity.
The proposal seeks to protect children from irreversible, non-consensual medical or surgical procedures that are not strictly necessary to save life or prevent serious and immediate harm.
According to the CRC, the amendments would ensure that the “best interests of the child” take precedence over social, cosmetic, cultural or expediency-based reasons often used to justify invasive medical procedures.
The Committee noted that intersex children are especially vulnerable to medically unnecessary “normalising” interventions performed before they are able to give informed consent.
The Committee further recommended that Article 15 of the Constitution, which addresses respect for human dignity, be harmonised with the proposed changes to Article 28. This, it said, would make it clear that non-consensual and non-therapeutic medical alteration of a child’s body amounts to a prima facie violation of human dignity.
In addition, the CRC proposed amendments to Article 30 to further strengthen constitutional safeguards for children, including those born with intersex variations.
The recommendations form part of a broader constitutional reform process intended to align Ghana’s legal framework with international human rights standards and enhance protections for vulnerable groups, including children affected by variations in sex characteristics.
The proposals are expected to be reviewed by government and Parliament as part of the ongoing constitutional review process.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
