Don’t overlook sexual comments made to your daughters

Women’s and children’s rights advocate Marian Darlington Rockson has warned parents not to ignore sexually triggering comments made by men to their daughters.

“It shouldn’t be okay with your parents when men comment on your daughters. Comments like that could lure them into sexual abuse and that will continue if you don’t stop it, ”Ms. Rockson added.

Ms Rockson made the comment Thursday during a media engagement on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), organized in Accra by the Abuse Relief Corps, a non-governmental organization that supports victims of trafficking and abuse .

A survey conducted by the Organization of hundreds of high school girls in Accra found that 93% of those surveyed had experienced sexual harassment and most of them from their fathers, followed by their stepfathers, uncles. and family knowledge.

“It is unfortunate that some mothers choose to protect their husbands who are sexually abusing their daughters and deal with issues at home. This act must be stopped as quickly as possible. “

According to her, although advocates for victims of sexual and gender-based violence, like her, were concerned about protecting the rights of victims, adding that it was more difficult to do so if victims did not cooperate.

“If I see that what is happening to you is abuse and you, the victim, don’t see it as abuse, what can I do, what can the police do?

“It is difficult to prosecute sex offenses that do not leave bruises, so if the victims do not cooperate, then the fight becomes more difficult”, she lamented.

Founder of Obaapa Development Foundation Nanahemaa Adjoa Awindor said that the Foundation engaged as part of its empowerment project, among teenage mothers, 80% of Ashanti and Volta regions have been sexually abused.

She noted that the people who sexually abused girls were the ones they felt they could trust, seek advice and confide in.

“People have hurt others not only in their bodies but in their minds to such an extent that victims no longer feel fit to be among human beings, and there is still much to be done to bring them back to life,” she declared. .

Nanahemaa Awindor called on the media to enlighten society on the plight of women, girls and boys in their homes, communities and cottages and the urgent need to address them.

The Director of the Human Trafficking Unit, Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Mike Baah, said no institution can tackle SGBV alone, hence the need to ‘coordination between stakeholders to bring perpetrators to register and discourage the inhumane act.

He said that people are currently surfing the internet to watch videos of sexual abuse of girls, therefore, they had established the “Child Protection Digital Forensic Lab” with the help of UNICEF. to analyze these issues in order to improve prosecutions.

Mr Baah said that at times victims of sexual and gender-based violence ignorantly found themselves in a state of denial and felt sympathy for rapists after prosecutions while they were physically injured, adding that he therefore became necessary for stakeholders to educate them more about their sexual rights.

He called on private health facilities to freely donate or subsidize the cost of treating victims of rape and defiling, as a corporate social responsibility.