54-Year-Old Woman Breaks 50-Year Silence to Reveal Decades of Brutal Abuse by Pastor Father

Afua Kesse-Amponsah, a 54-year-old Ghanaian woman, has courageously broken a half-century of silence to recount the harrowing details of physical and emotional abuse she endured at the hands of her father, a pastor. The abuse, which reportedly began when she was only two years old, underscores the hidden plight of many domestic violence victims in Ghana who suffer in silence for decades. By sharing her story now, Kesse-Amponsah aims to shed light on the long-term psychological scars left by extreme corporal punishment and the institutional failures that allowed the abuse to persist unchecked throughout her childhood.

The details of the abuse are particularly distressing, involving severe physical beatings that Kesse-Amponsah claims were often motivated by her father’s attempt to forcibly change her from being left-handed to right-handed. These sessions frequently left her with significant physical injuries, which her father allegedly masked by administering powdered aspirin to reduce swelling and pain, effectively hiding the physical evidence of his violence from the community and authorities. This systematic concealment allowed the cycle of abuse to continue for years, resulting in what Kesse-Amponsah describes as numerous health complications and a lifelong struggle with Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD).

Despite the severity of her claims, the path to legal justice is complicated by the fact that her father is now deceased. This reality has left Kesse-Amponsah in a difficult position regarding criminal prosecution, fueling her frustration with a law enforcement and social welfare system that she believes failed to protect her when it mattered most. Her testimony highlights a critical gap in the protection of minors, where cultural norms regarding parenting and discipline often shield abusers from scrutiny, especially when they hold positions of authority or religious leadership within their communities.

Now an advocate for change, Kesse-Amponsah is calling for a national conversation on the dangers of corporal punishment and the need for greater institutional accountability. She urges parents to find more constructive ways of disciplining children and calls on social institutions to be more proactive in identifying and intervening in cases of domestic abuse. By coming forward, she hopes to empower other survivors to speak out and to ensure that the systems designed to safeguard children are strengthened to prevent future generations from enduring similar trauma.