‘Resource Gender Ministry, related institutions’
The Director of the Ark Foundation, Ms Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, has called on the government to adequately resource the Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection (MGCCSP) and other related institutions to undertake their mandate effectively.
Advertisement
She said an institution such as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) needed a lot of capacity building because it was a specialised agency and its services were very critical.
Ms Dwamena-Aboagye was speaking at a stakeholders’ dialogue on improving justice for victims of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) in Ghana on the theme: ‘Improving Justice for victims of sexual and gender-based violence in Ghana: The role of the Judiciary,’ in Koforidua in the Eastern Region.
The dialogue was an initiative of the ministry, in partnership with the Danish International Development (DANIDA).
It provided a platform for various stakeholders who were brought together to highlight the successes and practices in handling SGBV cases, examine the challenges and map out strategies for the way forward.
She said the lack of support had crippled institutions such as the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and added that the foundation used to sensitise the public to such acts, because such bodies as well as the foundation, were all forms of human rights institutions, but the situation was different now.
She said her desire was for the judges to enforce the laws and also do more consequential orders to ensure that victims were not intimidated.
Statistics
In a speech read on his behalf, the Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at MGCSP, Mr Mawutor Ablo, said records from DOVVSU indicated that a total of 15,749 SGBV cases were recorded in 2015.
Other Trending Stories
Out of the figure, 4,500 cases were assault on women, 316 were rape cases, while defilement accounted for 1,180.
He said the 2015 DOVVSU statistics further showed that out of the 1,291 sexual and gender-based violence cases sent to court, 139 cases were convicted, with 10,945 of the reported cases under investigation, while statistics further proved that a greater number of the violence was perpetuated against women.
Due diligence
A Court of Appeal Judge in Accra and the Director of the Judicial Training Institute, Justice Dennis Dominic Adjei, explained that though there was the need to protect the interest of the victims, that did not mean that whenever a case was brought to court one should be convicted, and said conviction was based on evidence on record.
He advised prosecutors not to rush cases to the court but conduct a lot of investigations into the cases to ascertain enough evidence in order to prove the case beyond any reasonable doubt or report to their superiors that there was not much evidence for prosecution.
Mr Adjei said the courts were there to prosecute to ensure that justice was meted out to the parties and urged all the stakeholders to play their part in accordance with the law to make sure justice was effectively meted out.