Child Rights International complains of child abuse

General News of Monday, February 11, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

2019-02-11

The Executive Director of Child Rights International (CRI), Mr. Bright Appiah, lamented the upsurge in child abuse cases, stating that "the problem is an indictment for child abuse programs. social investment of the country ".

Therefore, he called for the establishment of a robust child protection system, in which the perpetrators of child abuse will be severely repressed.

"Every year, the government invests more than 1 billion GH ¢ in social investment programs without any social safety net to hold child abusers accountable for their perpetrators of such heinous crimes against children. In the end, these activities have a negative impact on government interventions, "said a statement copied to the Daily Graphic.

In response to a recent case of child abuse in the Far East region, where an adult burned a boy, Mr. Appiah said the recent development of ongoing abuse of human rights by children tended to harm the image of Ghana in the eyes of the international community as a place where children were not safe.

Context

An 11-year-old boy from Bolgatanga, in the Upper East region, is still dressing his wounds, more than a year after a man poured him gasoline and gave him fire.

Maxwell Ayinbisa Abelinkiira was accused of having looked in a bathroom to watch a woman taking a bath, a crime that the boy denied.

This story follows a similar story in the central region where a boy's hand was injured by his stepmother whose machete fell on him but let the wound infect until she decomposed.

The five-year-old boy's hand has been amputated at Central Regional Hospital in Cape Coast over the past two weeks.

Conviction

Mr. Appiah added that apart from these cases, the organization had listed a number of cases of child abuse.

He said most of the cases documented by the IRC would be shocking for the country after their release.

"Like Maxwell, most parents try to hide cases of abuse from the public, while they use family dialogue to deal with them – it's very sad," he said.

Appiah said the organization would soon start fighting parents or those who "decide to cover up the abuse of children."

Forces of order

He added that the lack of proper documentation and presentation on child abuse cases greatly affected the outcome of cases within the country's justice system.

"However, our justice system urgently needs to respond quickly to issues affecting children so that people who commit such crimes in the future are aware of the consequences," Appiah said.

He also called on stakeholders, particularly the Ministry of Gender, Childhood and Social Welfare, to campaign against child abuse, adding that "CRI is ready to collaborate with the Ministry and any institution centered on the child ".