By William Yaw Owusu
Teusday March 9, 2010
Amnesty International (AI) Ghana wants the Ministry of Defence (MoD), Chief of Defence Staff and the High Command of the Ghana Armed Forces to make public the outcome of investigations of alleged rape of girls and women by soldiers at Nalerigu in the Northern Region recently.
They are also calling on the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) to investigate alleged gender-base abuses that they say are on-going against girls and women in some schools, colleges and universities.
Lawrence Amesu, Director of AI, Ghana made the call at the International Press Centre in Accra yesterday at a public forum to commemorate this years’ International Women’s Day.
March 8 is set aside by the United Nations (UN) as the day to celebrate the role of women in development. In different regions, the celebration ranges from the appreciation of respect and love towards women, their challenges as well as the recognition for women’s economic, social and political achievements.
Mr. Amesu said the abuse of women in educational institutions included soliciting sexual favours from female students in return for high grades or marks and added that those identified to have participated in such crimes as well as the soldiers “should face the full rigours of the law.”
He said this year’s celebration coincided with the 15-year comprehensive review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BDPfA) adding “Amnesty International will take advantage of this celebration to draw the urgent need for governments to acknowledge and respond to the critical gaps in the implementation of the BDPfA, which is also critical for ensuring meaningful progress on the Millennium Development Goals.”
He said AI is mobilizing public support to stop violence against women as an essential step towards the attainment of the MDGs adding “the mere creation of bodies, institutions and promulgation of laws aimed at monitoring, reporting and regulating or addressing issues affecting women are a step forward towards the protection of women and children in the society.”
Mr. Amesu noted that even though there had been progress in ensuring the safety of women and children in the country “we still continue to witness continue to witness gender based violence and abuse against women and girls.”
Hajia Hawawu Boya Gariba, Deputy Minister of Women’s and Children Affairs said the since 2001, the ministry had spearheaded what she calls “a vigorous national drive to overcome the challenges of gender inequality,” and were lacing emphasis on achieving gender parity in basic education through the promotion of girl-child education.
She said the Domestic Violence Act is carefully being followed give women and children a high level of protection in the society.
Hajia Gariba further said the Ministry is working hard to achieve proportional representation of women at the local level and urged all women to take advantage of the impending district and local level elections to get into the decision-making level of the various local assemblies.
Vincent Adzahile-Mensah, Board Chairman of AI who spoke on the topic, “Violence against women and MDGs” said the recent appointment of women into higher positions of various institutions in the country became news because it was a new phenomenon explaining “it shows how we have collectively relegated the role of women into the background.”
He said violence against women was an obstacle to development and said its prevention is a prerequisite to the attainment of the MDGs.
Ms. Janet Adama Mohammed, Programmes Director of Ibis Ghana who spoke on “Gender equality and women’s right” said the continuous abuse of women and children is an impediment in the way of accelerated development.
Madam Joana Wilhelmina Mensah, Deputy Director in charge of Child Protection at the Department of Social Welfare who chaired the forum said although there had been progress in the quest to offer proper protection to women and children, there was a lot more to be done about the situation to ensure that women live without fear.
Also see : www.dailyguideghana.com
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