Members of the Essential Service Package Committee of the Western Regional Coordinating Council have expressed concern about the increasing rate at which some fathers were sleeping with their daughters in the Region.
Western Regional Director of the Department of Children Mrs. Faustina Awortwe , noted how such fathers to child sexual abuses was giving birth to many young prostitutes in communities “Our engagement with children in prostitution have revealed children who have already been exposed to these abuses prefer to engage in the act outside their homes for monies as well,” she said.
Other issues of concern raised by members of the Committee included the lack of proper detailing by doctors who examined such victims of abuse, the cover-up games by families and the gradual shirking of traditional and family values and the need to revert to some cultural and social norms and values that impeded such ills in society.
That aside, girls as young as between 9-10 years were said to have fallen victims to sexual abuses with either, grandfather, a stepfather, or an uncle, shooting incest cases among families in the Region.
The Committee Members expressed the concerns at their Second Meeting under the United Nations Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls subject to violence programme implemented by the Western Regional Coordinating Council.
Mabel Araba Aikins, Office of Attorney General and a member of the Committee spoke about one of such case of a father to daughter abuse and called for more strengthened and collaborative activities among committee members to reduce the numbers.
She was also not happy that family members who should serve as key witnesses in the event of trial had always failed to give their full support for effective trials.
She said experience had also revealed the need for women prosecutors and police officers to handle more of such abuse cases for maximum disclosure from the victims to aid in trials.
Ms. Setina Aboagye, the Western Regional Director of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service noted the need for more male engagements on the need to uphold the reproductive and sexual rights of their female counterparts and support them to unearth their potentials for growth.
She also called for shelters for women who had been abused and needed a haven for care and protection.
Ms. Maribel Okine, the Western Regional Director of the Department of Gender, said the committee, a multi-disciplinary one, would ensure cross-agency activism towards the protection of victims and survivors.
“We are here solely to facilitate discussions on the protection of victims and survivors from further harm, do follow ups on Sexual and Gender Based Violence activities and ensure that victims are educated and enriched with knowledge to avoid revictimization”.
GNA
