‘Bring up sons to be more gender sensitive’
The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, has appealed to mothers to give equal measures of upbringing to their sons and daughters to attract respect between the two genders.
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She said it was important that boys were taught from a tender age not to assault or insult their female counterparts.
Mrs Lithur made the remarks in an address at a community durbar at Ashaiman to mark 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence under the theme; “Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Ghana: The Role of Men and Boys."
16 Days of activities
The event is part of this year’s celebration of 16-Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) which is an annual programme celebrated from November 25 to December 10 and is being celebrated world-wide on the theme; “From Peace in the Home to Peace in the World: Let’s Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women.”
The minister was optimistic that if boys were educated on GBV at a tender age, it would go a long way to reduce cases of violence in the society, noting that most GBV was being perpetrated by men.
Mrs Lithur also called on men to be at the forefront of the fight against GBV, explaining that it would in the long term be in the interest of the whole nation.
Mrs Lithur was of the view that “violence was bad and should not be tolerated under any circumstance, hence the need for all persons to get involved.”
Violence against women
The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Ashaiman, Mr Ibrahim Baidoo, in his welcome address, said it was sad that violence against women and girls who were considered much more vulnerable was perpetuated by men from all walks of life, and described it as unacceptable.
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He called for a serious crusade against it and to eliminate it from the society, giving on assurance that the “Ashaiman Municipal Assembly will establish a women and children sub-committee to augment that of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) to make the society a better place to live in.”
In his presentation, a resource person, Mr Kingsley Obeng-Kyereh, said it was unfortunate that people tend to blame rape victims for attacks on them because they believed they were indecently dressed.
He said “that aspect of faulting the victim was a way for the culprits to unjustifiably excuse themselves from blame.”
Advice to society
Mr Obeng-Kyereh advised society neither to put the blame on persons who have been sexually assaulted nor call for a reparation to cover up in an attempt to save an individual or a family’s reputation.
He called on all persons to work at providing violence victims with assistance and also expose the wrong doers for the necessary retribution to serve as a deterrent to others.
There were solidarity messages from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Royal Netherlands Embassy which promised to support the country in its fight to end gender-based violence.
There were sketches by the Uniforce Actors Guild on violence against women and its effects.