Violence Against Women On The Ascendancy; 10,000 Cases Reported In 2012

Nearly 10,000 cases of violence against women were reported to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police in 2012. Even with this record of statistics, Amnesty International (AI), in its 2013 Country Review Report on Ghana released yesterday, insisted that violence against women was under-reported. Apart from the slow nature of the country’s legal system, it also observed that violence against women was not adequately addressed by the authorities. It said access to legal aid was limited or non-existent, with some petitioners spending more years waiting for the trial of their cases. Speaking at the launch of the report in Accra yesterday, the Director of AI Ghana, Mr Lawrence Amesu, called on the government to continue to make human rights central to its political programme and to commit itself to implementing a clear agenda for human rights. The 300-page book provides a comprehensive global overview of the state of human rights in 159 countries and highlights the situation of refugees and migrants and other critical human rights issues in 2012. Mr Amesu stressed the need to ensure full compliance with Ghana’s international and regional human rights obligations and commitments as explicitly set out in the treaties it had ratified. Commenting on the death penalty, the report said although the government had accepted the Constitution Review Commission’s recommendation to abolish the death penalty, it still remained on the statute books. “Although no executions were carried out, 27 men were sentenced to death in 2012. At the end of the year 2012, 166 people were on death row, including four women,” it said. Touching on housing rights, the report said although 1,500 people were forcibly evicted from their homes in Accra, thousands more remained at risk of forced eviction. “In January 2012, the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) demolished about 500 houses and structures along Accra’s railway line. One estimate suggested that over 1,000 people were left homeless. They were only given a few days’ notice to leave their communities, and were offered no compensation or alternative accommodation,” it said. On the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and intersex people, the report called on the Supreme Court to rule on whether the country should legalise same-sex acts or not. According to the report, sexual activities between consenting adults of the same sex remained a crime under Ghana’s Criminal Code and violence against people suspected of the same sex relationships continued. “ In March, 2012, young people in Accra’s James Town community disrupted a planned wedding ceremony between two women, and assaulted them and their guests. The women were later arrested and detained at the James Town Police station for engaging in illegal practice,” it said. In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Mahama Ayariga, said the government was ready and willing to promote human rights not only in Ghana and Africa, but also the world at large. He, however, encouraged AI to make concrete and feasible alternative recommendations to accompany their human rights campaigns to address consequences of such campaigns when implemented. “For example, what does AI suggest government should do to take care of people on death row or who commit heinous crimes? When the death penalty is abolished in all countries, what does AI suggest governments in developing countries particularly should do to take care of people living in slums that may be affected by evictions as a result of government redevelopment plans?” Mr Ayariga asked. The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, gave an assurance that the death penalty law would be reviewed in line with the Constitutional Review Commission’s recommendations. She said the government was committed to implementing its priority interventions in the area of respecting human rights. Nana Oye Lithur bemoaned the rise in forced child marriages and child prostitution in Ghana and pledged the government’s determination to eliminate the canker. She called on Ghanaians to hold the government accountable if it reneged on some of its promises of promoting human rights, particularly the passage of the Right to Information Bill into law.       Source: Daily Graphic