European Journal of Literary Studies ISSN: 2601–971X ISSN-L: 2601–971X Available on-line at: http://www.oapub.org/lit Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved 137 DOI: 10.46827/ejls.v3i1.310 Volume 3 │ Issue 1 │ 2021 GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN AMA ATTA AIDOO’S NO SWEETNESS HERE Kwadwo Kombate, Ali Moro i Tutor of English, Department of Languages, St. Joseph’s College of Education, Bechem, Ghana Abstract: The aim of this study is to offer a critical analysis of No Sweetness Here by Ama Atta Aidoo to identify forms of gender violence which is a violence intentionally perpetrated by husbands or male partners-people known to be intimate associates in the text. The feminist approach has been adopted as our theoretical framework. The text offers interesting representations of the complex ways in which female characters feature as gender abuse victims in situations where gender violence is prevalent. Descriptive analysis is the main method of data analysis in this study. The study revealed that the protagonist, Maami Ama suffered several forms of gender-based violence such as emotional, economic, marital, and social and discrimination in her matrimonial home. The author portrayed her as struggling against gender–based violence from her husband, her mother- in-law and sister-in-laws. Keywords: gender, feminism, patriarchy, polygamy, gender-based violence 1. Introduction The conditions of women in most matrimonial homes have been object of intense discussions because the culture is strongly patriarchal and conservative. Ama Ata Aidoo’s text, No Sweetness Here, chosen emphasizes more on gender-based violence. It is explained as violence that reflects the existing unevenness in the power relations between men and women that perpetuates the subordination and devaluation of the female as opposed to the male. This violence exists within the framework of the patriarchy as a symbolic system that engenders an array of day-to-day practices which deny women their rights and reproduce the existing imbalance and discrimination between the sexes. The difference between this kind of violence and other forms of aggression and coercion lies in the fact that in this case the risk factor or source of vulnerability is the mere fact of being a woman. These aspects of gender-based violence grow very well in male i Correspondence: email ntiadarkwahsamuel@yahoo.com