Domestic violence victims need support

Domestic violence, which takes the form of either physical or sexual violence, should not be tolerated in any part of the world. Fortunately, in most countries the act is criminalised and the offenders are severely punished. 

The Daily Graphic takes a strong position against domestic violence because it is abominable, immoral and criminal.

Domestic violence causes immediate devastating consequences to those affected: physical injuries, mental health problems and poor well-being.

But it also has long-term, far-reaching effects, including persistent inequalities between men and women, which limit women and girls’ abilities to fulfil their potential. 

These consequences are not only life-changing for the victims, who are mostly women, but also for their families, communities and wider societies, as gender inequalities become entrenched.

The 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) which was launched in Accra recently, indicates that two in every five women aged 15 to 49 years who have ever had an intimate partner have experienced at least one form of intimate partner violence that is, emotional, physical, or sexual violence.

In all, 35.2 per cent had experienced emotional violence at least once, 22.7 per cent had experienced physical violence at least once, and 11.2 per cent had experienced sexual violence at least once.

Comparing the 2014 and 2022 data, it showed that from the 33.6 per cent recorded in the previous GDHS’ survey conducted in 2014, domestic violence declined to 28.4 per cent in this recent survey.

The survey looked at the domestic violence incidence from trend perspective and that showed that across the three domains - emotional, physical and sexual violence, there was a decline in emotional and physical violence and for sexual violence, there was an increase of 1.1 percentage point nationally.

Unfortunate, domestic violence is facilitated largely by culture and socialisation.

 Victims, especially women, who choose to report cases of violence are seen to be disgracing the family and this makes them to keep quiet over the issue.

Some family members have normalised abuse in marriage while abused wives who flee to their families are often asked to return to their matrimonial homes.

Fortunately, there is a law in place which requires the support of all for its enforceability.

The Domestic Violence Act 732, adopted by Parliament in 2007, outlines a comprehensive legal framework for the prevention of and protection against domestic violence and criminalises various acts of physical and sexual violence, economic and psychological abuse, and intimidation in domestic relations.

Over the years, local and international bodies such as FIDA Ghana, Plan International Ghana and the Domestic Violence Coalition, among others, have been calling on the government to make adequate budgetary allocations to state agencies such as the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to operationalise the Domestic Violence Act.

These bodies and many more have helped in the training of police officers, judges and court officials on domestic violence and how to use the Domestic Violence Act, and the Daily Graphic can say it is paying off.

The Daily Graphic commends international bodies, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, the Ghana Police Service and the judiciary, among others, for its contribution to making domestic violence an unattractive venture for perpetrators.

We call on the government and relevant bodies to ensure that the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Fund is effectively operationalised to help victims who need support.

We believe that many victims, especially women, continue to be in abusive marriages because they are unable to take care of themselves and their children financially when they leave the marriage or relationship and so when the law even catches up with their partners they refuse to testify against them with the excuse that they are the breadwinners.

We therefore advise especially women who are not into any employment to take up skills training such as bead or soap making to be able to earn a living on their own without their partners’ support.

Together, let us all help to keep domestic violence out of our communities by reporting such cases to the relevant authorities for action to be taken.