“Daddy, Today We Have a Match!” Women’s Agentic Strategies in Initiating Sexual Intercourse in an Urban Ghanaian Community

Daniel Yaw Fiaveh, University of Ghana

This paper investigates women’s sexual behaviour to demonstrate how different forms of agentic strategies are employed in initiating sexual intercourse. Drawing on the narratives of 15 women aged 25 to 59 years in Madina, an urban community in Accra, Ghana, findings revealed that women were active initiators of sexual intercourse although there were some silences about their sexuality. Differences in socio-demographic profile (such as Age, marital status, commitment to moral and religious values), past sexual experience, partners’ understanding, being in a ‘bad mood for sex, and menstrual cycle created different barriers to sex initiation amongst different categories of women. Compared with older women, younger women were more likely to initiate sex with their partners, and held low commitment to religious beliefs. Consistent with other studies, a considerable number of the women interviewed had experienced sexual abuse which impacted negatively on their sexual reception within marital unions.