Ministry of Gender launches 16-day campaign against gender-based violence

General News on Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2018-11-27

The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has launched a "16-Day Activism Campaign Against Gender-Based Violence" to raise public awareness of the consequences of this act and the need to stop it.

The campaign was also a strong platform for strengthening networks and partnerships to change stereotypical attitudes about women and girls with regard to gender-based violence in societies.

The campaign launched on Monday in Accra had the theme "Orange, the world: listen to me too", to raise awareness that some companies were becoming less and less secure, as well as hidden voices neglected for decades.

MoGCSP, Acting Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for Domestic Violence, which launched the campaign, said that gender-based violence was one of the most heinous human rights violations targeting women and girls in the world. all areas of their lives.

She added that it deprives women and girls of their dignity, their rights, their livelihoods and compromises their dreams of a promising future, imagined by themselves and their families.

Violations include child marriages, female bad mutilation, the preference given to the education of boys, discrimination in the distribution of resources and inhuman rights of widowhood, among others.

The consequences are enormous and affect not only the victims, but the country in its development program.

Ms. Asibi noted that the most troubling problem was the badual exploitation and abuse of girls, who seemed to be increasing.

"I think we've all heard the voices of vulnerable women, including those who live with disabilities and the elderly who are often referred to as witches, as well as the voices of vulnerable children on our streets that are often exploited. , badually badaulted, forced to prostitute themselves, trafficked and led some to become mothers-children, "she said.

"These voices could be those of our homes, our neighborhoods, our churches, our schools and the nation as a whole."

The Acting Executive Secretary called on the public to join forces to fight the threat, adding that "we all have a disconcerting task to bring us closer to those voices that require at least a listening ear."

She emphasized, "Help listen to this voice and tell their stories. You may never know the relief and rehabilitation that can bring to these survivors. "

She expressed the gratitude of the Ministry to its development partners, particularly UNFPA, UNICEF, UNDP, Plan International, ActionAid Ghana and DfID.

Mr. Niyi Ojuolape, UNFPA Representative in Ghana, said that one in three women had been victims of gender-based violence in her lifetime.
Therefore, he said that such a campaign should be organized so that they take steps to highlight the issues and discuss them so that solutions are generated.

He said combating gender-based violence was a collective responsibility of the entire continent and the world.

Ms. Claire Anne-Dufay, UNICEF Representative in Ghana, said that 94% of children aged 14 to 14 were victims of some form of gender-based violence, adding that more than 38% of girls and women women in Ghana had been badually abused.

She added that it was not necessary for girls or women victims of badual violence to undergo a medical examination and urged the public to join the fight against the threat.