By
Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA
Accra, Dec. 6, GNA –
Superintendent Sophia Eva Anim, of the Madina Office of the Domestic Violence
and Victims Support Unit (DOVSSU) of the Ghana Police Service, has cautioned
fathers to refrain from bathing their teenage daughters since it amounts to
sexual abuse.
She said the Unit was
investigating and trying cases involving fathers who sexually abused their
daughters and thus, advised parents and caregivers to pay attention to their
children’s complaints so that they could take immediate action.
She cautioned
parents and guardians to desist from subjecting children or persons under their
care to severe beatings that could result in injuries, emotional and
psychological trauma.
Supt. Anim gave the
advice at a sensitisation programme on the Domestic Violence Act, (Act 732),
held at Dodowa Wesley Methodist Church in the Shai-Osudoku District of the
Greater Accra Region.
The event was
jointly organised by the Domestic Violence Secretariat of the Ministry of
Gender, Children and Social Protection and DOVVSU, to create awareness and
mobilise public support to end sexual and gender-based violence.
It brought together
caregivers, parents, youth groups, opinion leaders, faith-based organisations,
Seamstresses and Tailors and students and pupils from some basic schools in the
district to embolden them to lead a fearless campaign against the incidents of
domestic violence in the country.
Supt Anim explained
that touching someone’s sexual organs amounted to sexual abuse and urged
victims to lodge a complaint with the Unit.
“Male adults who
have sexual intercourse with girls below 16 years commit defilement even if the
girl consented to the act and you would be sentenced to a minimum of seven
years in prison and 25 years maximum.
“When you use your
penis to penetrate a young boy’s anus, that act is called unnatural canal
knowledge and the offender could spend a minimum of seven years in prison and
25 years maximum,” Supt. Anim explained.
Madam Mallonin
Asibi, the Director of the Domestic Violence Secretariat of the Ministry,
explained the mandate of the Ministry and activities it has been undertaking to
protect the vulnerable, the aged, Persons with Disability (PWDs) in the
society.
She urged every
Ghanaian to be abreast of the domestic violence law to prevent anyone from
falling victim so that the society would be a peaceful place to live.
In an address read
on his behalf, Mr Paul Mark Anim, the Shai-Osudoku Coordinating Director, urged
the participants to take the education on domestic violence seriously, in order
to contribute their quota towards making the district a peaceful place to live.
The forum enabled
the participants to ask questions while answers were provided by the
authorities concerned.
GNA
