Decolonizing ethics review in disability research: Reflexive insights from a study in rural Northern Ghana

Research involving vulnerable populations such as those with disabilities requires strong ethical safeguards to prevent harm. However, for researchers based in Western institutions working in the Global South, ethics reviews can themselves be colonizing, creating ethical tensions in the field. This article examines the need for decolonizing ethics review in disability research through reflexive insights drawn from a study conducted in rural Northern Ghana. Based on an interpretive phenomenological fieldwork with persons with disabilities, the article explores how ethics review processes shaped by Western institutional norms can generate tensions when applied in contexts marked by different social relations, legal practices, material conditions, and understandings of personhood. It focuses on key ethical issues including consent documentation, decision-making capacity, compensation, privacy, confidentiality, and participant protection. While research ethics boards are essential for protecting participants, the article argues that rigid procedural requirements may unintentionally undermine dignity, autonomy, inclusion, and locally meaningful forms of care and protection. Using a decolonial and reflexive lens, the article shows how universalized ethics frameworks can reproduce colonial authority in knowledge production, particularly in disability research in the Global South. The article calls for a more contextual, relational, and dialogical approach to ethics review—one that preserves participant protection while recognizing the ethical significance of local realities.