Key Social Norms Take-aways Ghana has made substantial progress in women’s rejection of norms that justify intimate partner violence, suggesting meaningful normative change, but this progress has not translated evenly into other dimensions of women’s empowerment. The discussion emphasizes that restrictive gender norms and household power relations continue to constrain decision-making, particularly among disadvantaged groups. The authors recommend community-embedded norm-change programs that engage men, religious leaders, and extended families, alongside continued efforts to challenge acceptance of violence.

Objectives The study examined national trends in women’s empowerment in Ghana from 2003–2022 across social independence, household decision-making, and attitudes toward violence; quantified inequalities by age, wealth, education, residence, and region; and assessed whether empowerment gains were equitably distributed or concentrated among advantaged groups.

Methods This repeated cross-sectional study used nationally representative Ghana Demographic and Health Survey data from 2003, 2008, 2014, and 2022 for married or partnered women aged 15–49, drawing on pre-processed estimates from the World Health Organization Health Equity Assessment Toolkit. Women’s empowerment was measured using the Survey-based Women’s Empowerment index, covering social independence, household decision-making, and attitudes toward violence. The attitudes toward violence domain specifically captures women’s rejection of norms justifying intimate partner violence and is interpreted as reflecting intrinsic agency and internalized gender norms. Inequalities were assessed across age, wealth, education, urban/rural residence, and region using multiple absolute, relative, concentration, and regional inequality measures.

Results Attitudes rejecting violence showed the strongest improvement, increasing from 61.6% in 2008 to 79.2% in 2022, alongside narrowing regional and wealth inequalities. Decision-making empowerment increased to 61.4% in 2014 but declined to 55.6% in 2022, with widening age and wealth disparities. Social independence increased from 29.5% to 45.5% but remained the most unequal domain; adolescent social independence remained below 5%, and education was the dominant source of inequality. Gains in social independence became increasingly concentrated among highly educated women.

Conclusions Ghana has achieved important normative progress, particularly in rejecting violence against women, but national averages mask persistent socioeconomic, educational, age, and geographic inequalities. The authors conclude that empowerment strategies should be equity-focused and domain-specific, combining continued norm change with structural interventions that expand education, economic resources, and opportunities for women and girls who have benefited least from national progress.