Real Men - Video Documentary

"Real Men" is a 1-hour-long video documentary exploring gender-based violence in Ghana. The documentary is meant to provide information to victims, perpetrators, and society as a whole by portraying the pain and loss that victims suffer and the negative effects of gender violence on the development of Ghana. The film highlights the dynamics of gender violence, its causes and effects, the difficulties experienced by victims seeking justice, and the gaps in service provision for victims of violence.

In addition to informing the public, the documentary is meant to play an advocacy role. It offers advice and a way forward in the fight against gender, encouraging the creation of a society that recognises and respects the rights of all people by challenging the government and other policy makers to face the reality of the gender violence in Ghana. To this end, the documentary calls for capacity building of institutions that handle gender violence cases and suggests collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the country to improve capacity.

Interviews with approximately 80 stakeholders in the country are offered to provide this information and to spur this action, and include people from diverse professional backgrounds, such as medical doctors, teachers, chiefs and queen mothers, counsellors, business owners, police officers, judges, community leaders and members, nurses, assembly members, human rights activists, lawyers, religious leaders, victims, and perpetrators.

The documentary was funded by the French Embassy in Ghana with institutional support from the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) and was produced by Ruhiya Issah, Patricia Arthur and directed by Mardey Ohui Ofoe.