By Lydia Kukua Asamoah
Accra, Nov 25, GNA – As the global world starts to observe this year’s 16 Days of Activism on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) on November 25, the Ark Foundation, Ghana, an NGO, has called on State institutions with the legal mandates to act on gender-based Violence (GBV) more decisively.
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), in particular, is being called upon to work with the Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Justice and Attorney General to assess the glaring gaps in preventive, protective, provision and prosecution measures, as outlined in legislation and policy and take active steps to bridge these gaps at national and decentralized levels.
A statement issued and signed by Dr Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, Executive Director, Ark Foundation, copied to the Ghana News Agency on Tuesday said policy measures needed to be considered for urgent action in addressing GBV issues that continued to soar in Ghana.
It said measures including the restructuring of the Domestic Violence and Victims’ Support Unit (DOVVSU); streamlining the training and transfers of trained police officers; strengthening the Domestic Violence Secretariat (DVS) at the Ministry of Gender to ensure coordination among state and non-state services, cross referrals and reporting; and waiving payment of fees by GBV survivors for treatment and filling of police medical forms should all be looked at.
It said the Ministry of the Interior and the Ghana Police Service (GPS) should consider the centrality of police action and enforcement in breaking the cycle of violence plaguing homes and communities by upgrading DOVVSU to a directorate of the police or to the status of a specialized bureau.
“This will afford it a modicum of autonomy in taking leadership decisions and grant it the ability to work with different levels of stakeholders for programmatic and funding purposes.
“Granting DOVVSU with the status advocated here will also ensure that its leadership has a seat at the highest decision-making level of the police structure; is not isolated from accountability to the police institution and to citizens; and is at the same time able to make the concerns of its specialized tasks integral to policing.”
It said in restructuring DOVVSU, special measures must be put in place to ensure that all its officers were highly trained and deeply sensitive to the nature and dynamics of gender-based violence and the approaches best suited to effectively combat the canker of GBV.
The statement called on the Chief Justice and the Judiciary, to increase the number of GBV courts and designate days for lower courts to handle gender-based violence cases with dispatch.
Judges must be trained to make, suo moto, protection and occupation orders as envisaged by the Domestic Violence Act, when presenting cases demand of such, to minimize the risk of violence to victims and survivors.
“Where applications by victims are necessary, Court officials like the registrars should be given the capacity to guide applicants to fill simple forms, so they do not have to face the added trauma of paying exorbitant legal fees for a process that should be seamless. Judges must be provided with information on other services in the communities for referral purposes, such as for shelter, medical or psychological services, in the bid to promote a survivor-centred approach to justice, the statement said.
The Gender Ministry was also urged to spearhead a more robust and rigorous response that protects victims of GBV through a coordinated services approach, clearly spelt out in the several policies, protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs) that Ghana had adopted in the area of focus.
The Government should also address the chronic under-resourcing of the DVS and the Domestic Violence Fund, and ensure accountability to citizens as spelt out in the Domestic Violence Act.
“Preventive strategies such as sustained mass public education through diverse media for citizens can work to curtail impunity by perpetrators as a sensitized public is likely to say something when it sees something.
“The State fails when it leaves its responsibility to a handful of NGOs and CBOs to carry. Provision measures such as augmenting existing shelters and establishing new ones through strategic partnerships with CSOs/FBOs/CBOs, traditional authorities and the private sector will help with immediate safety and other psycho-social nets for survivors of GBV,” the statement indicated.
It said the Government should harmonize the operations of the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) that carries a critical mandate in the protection of children facing abuse or witnessing abuse in their homes and communities.
It called on the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Education Service to also deal robustly with teachers who exploit students for sex or sexual acts and expel them from the service.
According to the statement, the government needed to abolish the current system where the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection oversees the national operations of the DSW and the Ministry of Local Government oversees the decentralized offices of the DSW.
“The current system does not make for proper accountability, undermines reporting systems and frustrates practitioners who need the services of the DSW to address the situation of children facing GBV and other forms of abuse at the various ‘levels’ of the Department.”
The statement called on the Ministry of the Interior and the Ghana Police Service, including DOVVSU, to undertake a nationwide survey to ascertain areas where police response to GBV had been compromised through inaction or wrongful actions, to take decisive and corrective measures.
GNA
Edited by George-Ramsey Benamba