Central Region records 2,500 cases of sexual, gender-based violence
The Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service in the Central Region recorded 2,500 sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) cases last year.
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According to the Regional Co-ordinator of DOVVSU, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) George Appiah-Sakyi, averagely, the unit has been recording the same figure every year since 2010; a situation he describes as worrying.
He was speaking in an interview with the press on the sidelines of a community durbar on SGBV organised by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection at Jukwa Krobo in the Hemang Lower Denkyira District.
Cases
Half of the cases, he said, had been non-maintenance issues but in 2014 assault cases topped the list. He hinted that per current records available to the unit, assault cases were likely to stay on top at the end of 2015.
Dubbed “Ending Sexual and Gender- Based Violence: The role of the Community”, the durbar, organised in partnership with the Danish International Development Agency to Ghana (DANIDA), was aimed at creating awareness of SGBV and how community members could help to end it.
Partnership
DSP Appiah-Sakyi said DOVVSU would continue to partner various agencies to educate the public on the effects of SGBV and the need to report such cases to the police, and urged various stakeholders to play their respective roles.
He also touched on the various laws that addressed SGBV in the country and advised SGBV victims and their relatives not to hesitate in reporting such cases to the police for appropriate action to be taken.
Roles
A Programmes Manager of the Ark Foundation, Mr Samuel Kyei-Berko, who spoke extensively on the impact of SGBV and the role of the community, urged parents to discourage sexual relationships involving their under-age children.
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He explained that anyone who had natural or unnatural carnal knowledge of any child under 16 years, with or without the child’s consent, was guilty of defilement and was liable on conviction to not less than seven years imprisonment.
Practices
Mr Kyei-Berko also touched on the impact of harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation and widowhood rites, among , on the victims and the long-term effect on the society, and stressed the need for such practices to be discouraged.
The Regional Director of the Department of Gender, Mrs Thywill Eyra Kpe, said the gender ministry would not relent in its efforts in the fight against SGBV and called on various stakeholders to support it to achieve its goal.
A similar seminar on the topic “Men as change agents in ending sexual and gender-based violence in Ghana” was held at Immuna in the Ekumfi District in the Central Region.