More women suffer rape and assault

Approximately six women are likely to be raped every week, six-year statistics from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service have revealed.

On the contrary, only one man is likely to be raped every year within the same period.

The data, which cover 2011 to 2016, also show that more females continued to suffer from rape and assault with only a handful of the victims being males.   

The annual breakdown also indicates that one woman was raped each day in 2011 alone.

On the average, nine women were raped within every month in 2012, while 10 women on average were raped every month in 2013.

The data  further  indicates that more than six women were raped every week in 2015 alone.

However, the 2016  figure dipped slightly with about four women being raped every week.

Perpetrators

The data showed that majority of the cases were perpetrated by the victims’ own family members with a few being done by close pals.
 

It points out clearly that out of the over 1,862 reported cases of rape, only six males were raped, showing an insignificant figure as against that of women.

The National Coordinating Director of DOVVSU, Chief Superintendent Rev. Mrs Laurencia Wilhemina Akorli, disclosed this to The Mirror in an interview in Accra.

Assault cases

  In all, 30,408 assault cases were reported nationally between 2011 to 2016, with men being the least victims.
 
Reduction

Apart from non-maintenance (child neglect), she said rape and sexual assault were some of the common domestic violent cases.

Even though Rev Mrs Akorli indicated that the incidents were reducing gradually due to the level of awareness, the rate of reduction was minimal in several instances.

For instance, the difference between the 2012 and 2013 figures on rape was only a decrease of seven per cent.

Another improvement was seen between 2015 and 2016 when there was a decrease of 25 per cent, an indication that the level of awareness was increasing.

However, it is also possible that some of the cases were not reported by the victims during the period under review.

Rev. Mrs Akorli confirmed this to The Mirror, saying “the inconsistencies in the figures could be likened to several factors including fear of stigmatisation which reduces the report rate.”

Advocacy

All in all, she said she believed DOVVSU was doing its best as far as advocacy was concerned and would not relent in its efforts.
 
She added that the unit would continue to advocate to create a lot of awareness to reduce incidents of domestic violence, emphasising that “advocacy goes with funds.”