Original subtitles

[ Up-tempo music plays ]

AMANPOUR: Ghana, the fastest- growing economy in Africa.

And yet...

MAN: The roots are about everything start with biblical.

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 ♪

♪ Blow the dragon's breath on your face ♪

♪ I go ♪

AMANPOUR: What happens when religion colors every aspect

of love, sex, and relationships?

Welcome to Accra.

[ Laughs ]

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

MAN: Tell me, what is your problem with our religion,

that you've come all the way from your country

to find out about it?

AMANPOUR: 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?

INTERPRETER: Her uncle committed adultery.

AMANPOUR: Young virgins were forced to marry tribal priests

to pay for crimes committed by their families.

INTERPRETER: Death will strike your family

unless you bring a young virgin to us.

AMANPOUR: 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.

[ Keyboard music plays, cheers and applause ]

MAN: Jesus Christ, the son of the living God,

give it to him, for he alone is worthy.

In the name of Jesus, like never before,

let God arise!

Let his enemies be scattered.

Put your hands together!

Somebody give him praise!

AMANPOUR: It's Sunday morning in a Charismatic Christian church.

The service is packed to the rafters

with passionate worshipers, 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.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

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.

[ Applause ]

What are the sexual habits of people who identify

as one of the most Christian countries in the world?

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 married a woman because she's very slim...

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

Hmm? And she's very wonderfully made.

[ Music continues ]

And if your motive and reason for marrying a woman

is because she looks a particular way,

when she start making babies and changing,

the reason for the marriage is over.

AMANPOUR: Moesha Buduong is an actress and model

who's gained a huge following on social media

by flaunting her sizeable 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 nails?

[ Laughs ]

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 walking up and down.

[ Laughs ]

Are Ghanaian women as body-obsessed,

as look-obsessed, as women in the West?

BUDUONG: Yes, they are.

They care for their skin, their body.

Any beauty product.

Anything that has to do with the skin.

AMANPOUR: And you work in beauty products.

-I mean, you're an actress. -Yes, I'm an actress.

And I've been signed for a stretch-marks cream,

and for vagina-tightening gel.

What?!

Vagina-tightening gel.

It tightens the vagina. Yeah.

-You're serious. -And people get it a lot.

Like, so many girls use it.

-AMANPOUR: And why? -More pleasure.

AMANPOUR: For who?

For your man. Your boyfriend or your husband, yes.

And what about for you?

BUDUONG: Ghana especially, we try to please the men 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.

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 girlfriends.

So -- sorry -- they have a wife, a mistress, and a 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.

Mistresses are like the special girlfriends.

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's happening everywhere.

Or 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?

-WOMAN: Yes. -And what do you think of it?

It's true. Everything she said is true.

AMANPOUR: Everything she said is true.

Yes.

Moesha, you're a Christian, right?

I'm a Christian.

And so how does this all play in with your religious beliefs?

-I'm a loyal mistress. -[ Laughs ]

So I'm good.

You're a Christian mistress.

[ Laughs ]

I'm loyal, and the wife knows about me.

What I'm doing is not hurting anyone or causing pain.

Ghana is 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 woman here.

Because even when you want to get an apartment,

in Ghana you pay two years in advance.

-Wow. -And I just started working.

Where will 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.

[ Snorts ]

He takes care of me, my financial stuff,

my apartment, my car, my rent, everything.

And -- And, Christiana, the same for you?

Well, I'm not dating a married man.

-You're dating a single man... -Yes.

...who nonetheless can take care of you.

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?

He expects me to be loyal and just to date him only

and give him 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.

Yes, he's gonna think you're cheating on him.

And does your man have more mistresses?

Yes.

Does your boyfriend cheat on you, Christiana?

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're very comfortable. He's secured your future.

You may be comfortable and your future may be secured --

Would you be happy?

Well...

[ Indistinct conversations ]

BUDUONG: Love -- I don't think true love works in Ghana.

[ Down-tempo jazz plays ]

♪ Sit down ♪

♪ Let's have a drink ♪

♪ Let's talk a little bit ♪

♪ I know we have a lot to say ♪

AMANPOUR: 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 are going into marriage

as a woman, the elderly women gather you

and they give you advice.

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. Okay.

This isn't through his stomach, though.

As a woman, you need to know how to cook.

-Right. -Now, another thing...

[ Laughs ]

I lose. [ Laughs ]

Another thing that you have to also do

is to be able to satisfy him sexually.

Now, this is one of the things to attract him.

AMANPOUR: A simple strand of waist beads.

Today, they're 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 bear babies

in a society that valued her only as a wife and mother.

WOMAN: Yeah. It's very attractive for men.

-Why? -Yes.

Because that's our tradition,

what we use, differentiate 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.

And during the sexual act,

they like to touch it as well and play with it.

The fact that they shake, you know, they're wriggling,

-it's just amazing for them. -Really?

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

AMANPOUR: So -- But here's the thing.

I mean, 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. -We have so many things to do.

Whenever your husband needs you, you have to avail yourself.

-And have sex when they want. -Have sex when they want.

Even when you don't feel like it.

Even in churches, they preach it.

We go into the marriage knowing our responsibilities.

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.

-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. -Yes.

♪ My baby doesn't care, for sure ♪

♪ He likes to spend time outdoors ♪

♪ He wanders 'round in dark streets ♪

♪ And comes home when I'm already asleep ♪

AMANPOUR: 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.

Nice One, as a man, do you have a wife?

-I have one wife, only one wife. -Is that your first wife?

That's my first wife. I only have one wife.

AMANPOUR: 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 play in front of the King's Palace.

I'm a footballer.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

And I scored a goal.

-Aah! -When I score a goal...

I'm happy, this lady is clapping.

And someone comes and tells 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 are you -- Do you cheat?

-Come again? -Do you cheat?

No, I can't teach.

-Cheat. -Cheat. I can't cheat.

The reason why is that, you know,

I'm a poor person before we marry.

We understand each other.

So when I have money, I let them know.

Today I have money.

Sandra, let's share this money.

So 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 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 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.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

AMANPOUR: 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.

[ Music continues ]

[ Indistinct conversations ]

Jamestown market is gritty and smoky and smelly and fishy.

It's a hardscrabble living.

And here too the women are in charge,

scaling and hawking the catch and generally running the show.

-Are you a fish seller here? -Yes.

Who are the most important people in this market?

Women, women, women.

The women are most important? Why is that?

It's the woman's job.

AMANPOUR: Dozens of women own fish stalls,

but Obi is an exception.

She owns a fishing boat.

Are the men your employees?

-Yes. -So they work for you.

-Yes. -So you're the boss.

Oh, she's gone. Well, she is a woman of --

[ Shouting in native language ]

I'm coming.

AMANPOUR: So off she goes. She's gone to get the catch.

So she's a strong woman, isn't she?

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's afraid of her.

They're afraid of her.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

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.

All your rings!

I mean, they're very, very ornate.

MERCY: Yes, usually as a market queen,

you have to adorn yourself to your status.

AMANPOUR: So this is all status for you?

MERCY: Yes. Very, very important position.

Very, very prestigious and very, very tiring.

[ Laughs ]

The fact that women are setting up their own businesses,

you know, selling the fish, et cetera,

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 says 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 our freaking men are very good.

[ Laughs ]

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 is going to bath he will put on towel.

I will push the towel. "Oh, oh, oh!"

I'll say, "What?"

So you would push his towel away.

Yes. I would say, "But 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.

AMANPOUR: 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 already, officially, we were two.

And the second wife -- with two wives...

-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.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

Do you talk about these things often?

Uh, because...

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.

Yes, because maybe my being open will save somebody's life.

My being open will save somebody's marriage.

[ Women singing in native language ]

AMANPOUR: 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.

[ Singing in native language ]

AMANPOUR: The groom's family brings a dowry of gifts

to be examined by the bride's family --

first the women, then the men.

MAN: The families are here.

Are we ready to accept these presentations,

which are being brought or have been brought,

for your hand in marriage?

-Yes, please. -Thank you. Thank you very much.

AMANPOUR: Already dressed in her finery,

Connie accepts in what's largely a formality.

And then Ebenezer is ushered in.

This couple has come to the altar fully committed

and full of faith.

That's what brought them together in the first place.

He's my first boyfriend.

We met at a church.

I like his behavior

because he's cool and humble

and God-fearing.

If we have a 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.

AMANPOUR: 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 hand 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.

[ Mid-tempo keyboard music plays ]

MAN: We're so glad you made it this morning.

Praise the Lord.

I will sing. I will shout.

I will praise the Lord.

[ Music continues ]

Hallelujah!

And now shall we welcome the father of the house, the papa?

[ Cheers and applause ]

AMANPOUR: Archbishop Nicholas Duncan-Williams,

affectionately known as Papa, is the head of Action Chapel

and a kind of Sunday-morning celebrity.

Hallelujah.

[ Applause ]

Amen.

AMANPOUR: Thousands of worshippers, men and women,

look to him for guidance in navigating their lives

and their marriages.

DUNCAN-WILLIAMS: I've been watching

our sister Christiane Amanpour for many, many years on CNN,

and I like her very much.

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."

And that was the beginning of the fall of man.

AMANPOUR: Why do you think it is that in scripture,

in the Christian faith,

women have been 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 woman

when it comes to the fall of man.

But I have an issue with that. I disagree with that.

It was equal responsibility.

Because the 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.

-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 --

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 a sort of a nod and a wink to the guys?

No, no, no, when it comes to the church and scripture,

we are 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's not good for the man to be alone.

And therefore, I, God, will give the man a helpmate."

And the meaning of a 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 gonna 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.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

AMANPOUR: 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 this! -No, but in the spirit of...

[ Music continues ]

AZIZAA: 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.

[ Music continues ]

♪ Submit to me ♪

♪ Tell me your evil deeds ♪

♪ Taste my kiss of death ♪

♪ I'll blow the dragon's breath on your face ♪

AMANPOUR: Azizaa Mystic is a controversial

and outspoken Ghanaian singer.

♪ I'm the black-magic woman ♪

AMANPOUR: 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.

♪ 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 a thing 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.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

[ Horns honking ]

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.

You know, he drives past us. He goes "Ashawo!"

[ Laughs ] Which means "prostitute."

Christianity.

[ Music continues ]

Yeah, I blame it all on Christianity.

AMANPOUR: Your art is about what?

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.

[ Indistinct conversations ]

AMANPOUR: Azizaa practices West African beliefs

that were in Ghana centuries before Christianity arrived.

Christians call it demonic.

You know, we know the word "voodoo" in the West,

but here it's -- How do you say that here?

-Vodun. -Vodun?

-Yeah. -What exactly does that mean?

It means "spirits."

-That's all? -That's it.

AMANPOUR: Believers say they're 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 ♪

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?

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.

[ Laughs ]

♪ And call it voodoo pussy ♪

♪ Ai! Ai! ♪

♪ A voodoo pussy ♪

♪ Ai! Ai! ♪

AMANPOUR: 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 women,

then you should be able to say you have voodoo pussy.

♪ We cook, we clean, we fight, we fuck ♪

♪ Call it voodoo pussy ♪

♪ Ai! Ai! ♪

AMANPOUR: Are you in a relationship?

-AZIZAA: No. -♪ Ai! Ai! ♪

[ Both laugh ]

-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.

[ Down-tempo music plays ]

AMANPOUR: This is a trokosi slave girl, right?

A trokosi girl. How old is this little girl?

Seven years old.

Do you know why you're here?

No.

Do you like it here?

Do you miss your parents?

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.

[ Chuckles ] I'm gonna cry too.

Oh, my goodness! I can't believe this.

[ Music continues ]

Thank you so much.

We did some good, huh?

-We did some good. -We did.

It's incredible 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.

Thank you.

[ Music continues ]

AMANPOUR: After the story aired on "60 Minutes,"

Brigitte Perenyi was adopted by an American

and came to live in Florida.

BRIGITTE: My adoptive 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.

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 gonna get abused,

assaulted, you know, sexually.

But because of you, I didn't -- When you are in the shrine,

after your first menstrual cycle,

they force -- they rape the girls.

After you have your first period?

But when you -- because of your video,

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

and what my life -- I would've --

I don't know what my life would have been like.

But I just want to make sure.

You were not physically attacked?

-You weren't raped? -No.

Thank God. Thank God for that.

You must have seen others who were.

I -- You hear them.

You hear them.

Because, you know, they're -- they're screaming

in the middle of the night.

They're screaming to get themselves away from --

from these men.

[ Music continues ]

AMANPOUR: And this still goes on?

Yes.

So now, for me, I am trying to start a dialogue.

I want people to know that it's happening.

AMANPOUR: 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.

Oh, that's so great.

I mean, you're young. You're 26.

But how much do you think this has affected you?

I mean, do you have romantic relationships?

Um, yeah, I have.

I-I...

Like, I sort of -- I don't have...

I don't really have a trust.

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 traditions that infringe 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.

And I'm here, your one and only Akumaa Mama Zimbi.

So call in to the show

and let us know what is really eating you up

here on "Odo Ahomaso" on Adom 106.3 FM.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

AMANPOUR: 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.

AMANPOUR: Mama Zimbi is the host of Ghana's number one radio show

on marriage, love, and sex.

WOMAN: Hello, Mama Zimbi? 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.

AMANPOUR: Much like the pioneering work

of Dr. Ruth in 1980s 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.

Mama Zimbi, we just heard about this girl who wants to have it

-all the time. -Yeah.

What are the sex positions that you advise?

If the husband is tired, watching TV,

you could just sit on him, and then it's just easy.

He would just be then like that, like that,

like this, like that.

So the husband is just going to support you like that,

and just easy.

I hear lots of women who cry desperately,

you know, because they're not

getting sexual satisfaction in their marriages.

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.

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're listening. Some will get angry.

But Mama Zimbi, you know, I just say it as it is.

[ Mid-tempo music plays ]

AMANPOUR: 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 Maama 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? -Now, that's different.

Ha! Of course it is.

So tell me about women. I mean, here you are --

I mean, you two could not present

a more modern, confident, empowered image.

Has it always been like that? 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," 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.

-Exactly. -We were wicked.

"An African City," you indulge in it, and it's great.

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

is sort of forced us to not be critical thinkers

and just not be aware of where we're from.

Whereas within our traditional culture, we are sexual.

Women are powerful and sexual.

AMANPOUR: 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 ZIMBI: Welcome to the show!

WOMAN: Mama Zimbi, I have a problem.

ZIMBI: Okay. Go ahead, sweetheart.

AMANPOUR: Evidently, a lot.