By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, Aug 23, GNA – Participants at a consultative meeting on gender-based violence have called for the inclusion of sign language education in the training curriculum of the Ghana Police Service.
They said this would help bridge the communication gap between people with hearing impairment and the Police to help facilitate access to justice.
They also called for collaboration between government and CSOs to incrementally resource and equip the Police Service with logistical support and basic knowledge of sign language to enable people with hearing impairment to report cases of abuse and to ultimately seek justice.
The consultative meeting was organised by the Northern Regional Programme Office of ActionAid Ghana, an international NGO, as part of its implementation of the Transformative Action for Gender Equality project, which is in partnership with the International Federation of Women Lawyers with funding support from the European Commission.
The participants were from key institutions including the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU)of the Ghana Police Service, and the Federation of Disability Organizations (GFD) from the Northern and Upper East Regions.
Currently, there is no sign language education in the training curriculum of the Ghana Police Service training schools.
The Participants argued that including sign language in the Police’s training curriculum would concretise the country’s commitment to strengthening social cohesion, protection and enhancement of the fundamental rights of persons living with disabilities.
Mr John Nkaw, Country Director of ActionAid Ghana, explained that a critical area of the project was to address the widening gap between the Police Service and other law enforcement agencies around addressing violence against women, which included the fact that many Police officers did not have training on sign language.
He said the project had mainstreamed sign language education to build the capacity of about 80 officers from the Police Service as part of efforts to continuously resource DOVVSU to effectively ensure access to justice for survivors.
Mrs Esther Boateng, Northern Regional Programme Manager of ActionAid Ghana said the meeting was to solicit the support of the Police Service and stakeholders in the two regions towards providing the enabling environment, where people with disabilities could seek justice without any form of intimidation and discrimination.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Duuti Tuaruka, Northern Regional Police Commander, who was represented at the event, said incorporating sign language education in the Police recruitment training would not only be beneficial to the PwDs but also help Police officers to investigate and ensure justice for vulnerable groups.
Mr Sulemana Abukari, a sign language interpreter, and a teacher at the Savelugu School for the Deaf, recounted how he intervened in most abuse and violence cases of PwDs, saying in most instances, survivors were not even aware that there were existing institutions responsible at ensuring their well-being.
GNA