WiLDAF inaugurates Girls’ Empowerment Clubs
Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana has commenced a project to inaugurate Girls’ Empowerment Clubs in schools, under its ‘Girls Empowerment Project’.
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The project is to enhance access to justice to empower girls to enjoy their rights, so as to reduce sexual violence and other forms of violence against children, especially, the girl-child.
The initiation followed the increasing rate of reported cases of abuse against children, especially the girl-child, which tends to traumatise them psychologically.
Statistics
Statistics from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service indicate that the number of defilement cases reported increased from 1,111 to 1,228 between 2012 and 2013.
Additionally, rape cases increased from 290 to 312 in the same year and 26 females suffered incest, while 4,687 females were assaulted and 21 girls were forced into marriage.
However, according to DOVVSU, in 2013, out of the 1,228 defilement cases that were reported, only 550 suspects were arrested and out of that only 76 were convicted.
As part of the project, WiLDAF, in collaboration with Cross Roads International, has inaugurated a Girls’ Empowerment Club (GEC) in the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) ‘12’ Junior High School.
The club is aimed at educating and empowering the youth on their sexual rights to enhance awareness of their right as enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of GEC in Accra, the Communications and Advocacy Manager of WiLDAF, Mrs Patricia Essel, explained that rape and defilement cases continued to increase as a result of ignorance, silence on the part of victims and lack of access to legal resources, which tended to act as barriers that prevented the injustices from being exposed.
Girls club
For this reason, she said, WiLDAF, a Pan-African , non-governmental women’s rights organisation was committed to continuing with sensitisation programmes to promote and protect the rights of women and children .
According to Mrs Essel, the girls’ club was currently running in the Volta and Greater Accra regions and would be piloted in all the 10 regions of the country.
Forty girls in the LEKMA ‘12’ JHS who had been trained on human rights and children’s rights personal hygiene and reproductive rights, were outdoored as peer motivators to help break the silence of sexual violence and reduce sexual abuse in schools and at home.
Initiative laudable
Inaugurating the club, the Director of Education at LEKMA, Mr Yaw Fosu-Danquah, commended WiLDAF for the immense support towards girls education and women empowerment in the country.
He added that the Ghana Education Service (GES), through its Girls’ Education Unit, had initiated programmes to help address the challenges and also support girl-child education.
In her closing remarks, the Co-ordinator for Girls Education at LEKMA, Rev. Mrs Hannah Botchway, urged the motivators to be models and good ambassadors to the youth.