Ending sexual, gender-based violence

Cases of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence are heartbreaking and can be which can be physical, sexual and/or psychological. These cases are defined as violence directed against a person because of that person's gender (including gender identity/expression). 

Women and girls, of all ages and backgrounds, are most affected by gender-based violence, which includes violence in close relationships; sexual violence (including rape, sexual assault and harassment or stalking); slavery; harmful practices, such as forced marriages, female genital mutilation (FGM) and so-called ‘honour’ crimes, as well as cyber-violence and harassment using new technologies.

Two pathetic stories

Last week, the case of the policeman, Lance Corporal Wilfred Dodzi Amuzu, 32, with the Tema Regional Rapid Deployment Force (RDF) Unit, who shot and killed his mother-in-law, Mary Quarshie, 62, his one-year and seven-months old son, Elikem Amuzu, and his three-month old baby, Xorlali Amuzu, before shooting himself in an uncompleted apartment located between the Devtraco Courts Estates and the Kpone Affordable Estates area, attracted attention in Ghana.

The 29-year-old widow escaped death narrowly as she had gone to visit her sister at Ashaiman, to seek some financial assistance. She only returned home later that evening to find out that her husband had killed her mother and two children.

Yet another pathetic story earlier this month, was the case of a 38-year-old man, Sampson Kwabena Ohene, who was detained by the Dansoman Police for allegedly beating her girlfriend, Madam Beatrice Ama Osaah, 48, a trader at the Dansoman Market, to death with a plastic stool.

The two are said to have been cohabiting for the past 10 years and had two kids, who are six and three years, and the incident occurred after a disagreement over the switching off of a ceiling fan in their single room.

Ghana, like many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa, continues to experience high rates of sexual and gender-based violence that involves a wide variety of perpetrators ranging from intimate partners and family members, to strangers and institutional actors such as police, teachers and soldiers. 

Gender-based violence is a term used to describe any harmful act, perpetrated against a person, and is based on socially ascribed differences between males and females. 

While men and boys can be victims/survivors of some types of sexual and gender-based violence around the world, it has a greater impact on women and girls.  

Records at DOVVSU 

Records available at the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service indicate that between the years, 2009 and 2013, the total number of sexual and gender-based violence cases recorded nationwide was 84,142.

Out of this, 20,693 were assault on women; 1,689 were rape cases and defilement accounted for 5,697.

Statistics from DOVVSU in 2014 also showed that, out of the 17,778 cases of various forms of violence reported nationwide, 4,415 were assault on women, defilement of girls accounted for 1,296; while in 2015 a total of 15,749 SGBV cases were recorded with 5,361 cases being assault on women; 315 being rape cases, and defilement accounting for 1,179.

An in-depth study on violence against women conducted by the Gender and Human Rights Documentation Centre, a women’s right advocacy organisation (Gender Centre) in 1999 reported that, one in three Ghanaian women suffer from physical violence at the hands of a past or current partner.

In addition, three in 10 Ghanaian women admit to having been forced to have sex by their male partner, and 27 per cent of women reported being victims of psychological abuse, including threats, insults, and destruction of property .

Statistics from a recently conducted nationwide research (2015) on Domestic Violence in Ghana revealed that 27.7 per cent of women in Ghana have experienced some form of domestic violence and showed women being at a greater risk of experiencing sexual violence over their lifetime, with men experiencing more psychological violence.

To consolidate and strengthen all the initiatives and strategies towards curbing sexual and gender-based violence in Ghana, the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) came on board to support the implementation of a one-year project titled ‘Ending Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Ghana’.

With support from DANIDA, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection expanded its efforts through the ‘Ending Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Ghana’ project, between April 2015 and April this year.

The project activities were organised under four main themes namely: Judiciary dialogue, community engagement and consultation, engaging men as change agents, media training and capacity building

Enhance capacities

A project brief by the Gender Ministry, on Ending Sexual and Gender-based Violence in Ghana, was to enhance capacities of communities and organise men’s groups to prevent and report the incidence of SGBV.

The overarching objective of the project partnership was to obtain a significant and sustained reduction in the incidence of sexual and gender-based violence in the country.

Its specific objectives were to improve service delivery from the justice sector in handling sexual and gender-based violence cases, enhance capacities of communities and organised men’s groups to prevent and report the incidence of SGBV, sensitise religious and traditional leaders to better understand the damaging practices and consequences of SGBV and foster strong partnerships with the media through the demystification of SGBV for journalists and media practitioners to facilitate gender-sensitive reporting.

With these objectives, the project focused on having direct engagements with communities including religious and traditional leaders, to foster behavioural change, particularly related with issues of tradition and belief systems that promote and condone sexual and gender-based violence.

Dialogue with key stakeholders

The project also focused on engaging and dialoguing with key stakeholders, including media practitioners/ journalists, and men as change agents; with the aim of creating a violence free society for women and children in Ghana.

The report, , identified what it described as the entrenched traditional beliefs and customs that remained an impediment to ending SGBV now, and achieving total violence free society in Ghana and also accused the media of continuing to show much more interest in political issues, and not giving social issues such as SGBV the needed attention.

As the one-year partnership on sexual and gender-based violence came to a close, the Gender Ministry recently shared with stakeholders, information on activities executed under the partnership, outcomes, lessons learnt, and also provided an opportunity for stakeholders to deliberate on the ministry’s plans and strategies for sustaining gains and expanding work on SGBV in Ghana.

The overall strategic objectives of the project are to break the silence on sexual and gender-based violence against women and children and to lay the foundation to obtain a significant and sustained reduction in SGBV-cases throughout Ghana. 

The event brought together ministers with oversight responsibility for promoting justice and gender equality; key state actors, development partners, civil society groups working in the area of gender equality and the media.

Effective collaboration

The report called for effective collaboration between law enforcement, legal aid, health care organisations, public health programmes, educational institutions and agencies devoted to social services and economic development, for the purposes of both prevention and ensuring an integrated response to survivors; working at different levels such as the individual, community, institutional, and laws/policies.

It also called for the strengthening of governmental and non-governmental agencies partnerships, addressing norms, attitudes and beliefs at all levels of society, targeting men and boys to change their views and perception about the acceptability of violence as a tool for settling misunderstanding and engaging with traditional rulers to work to end gender-based violence.

Considering that gender-based violence has very close links to poverty and social development, and in an effort to promote the welfare of a greater number of people, the Gender Ministry further expanded the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) Programme to absorb more beneficiaries. 

The ministry also introduced policies such as the National Gender Policy, the Child and Family Welfare Policy, and also worked on draft bills such as the Intestate Succession and Property Rights of Spouses Bill and the Affirmative Action Bill.

The ministry has also undertaken a study on the prevalence, trends and determinants of domestic violence in Ghana. The findings will help fine-tune and strengthen advocacy, as well as advance legal, policy and programmatic interventions aimed at countering sexual and gender-based violence in Ghana, expand its public education and advocacy across the country and enhance networking among stakeholders.