By Dennis Peprah
Abesim, (Bono), Nov. 28, GNA-The Young Urban Women Movement (YUWM), has called on the government to tackle the persistent rise in gender-based violence against women and girls in the country.
YUWM is a group of young women seeking to empower women to advocate better opportunities and rights in sexual and gender-based violence.
“Every day, in towns, villages, and peri-urban communities, women and girls continue to endure violations that no human being should ever face.
“Mothers are beaten in their matrimonial homes and young girls are subjected to abuse by those meant to protect them,” the movement stated in a communique issued in Sunyani to commemorate the 2025 celebration of the “16 Days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence” campaign.
A copy of the communique signed by Madam Theresa Mawuena, the Secretary of the YUWM, and made available to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani, was issued on the sidelines of a day’s forum held at Abesim, near Sunyani to mark the campaign.
Every year in November, the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection launches and spearheads the campaign to raise awareness and promote action to eliminate violence against women and girls in the country.
On the theme: “The Role of the Community in Protecting Women and Girls”, the Bono Regional Directorate of Department of Gender with Support from ActionAid Ghana, a Non-governmental organisation, organised the forum.
It sought to intensify awareness creation and to highlight forms of gender-based violence against women and girls to stimulate stakeholders support towards ending the menace.
Civil society actors, security services, as well as representatives of political parties and women and youth groups attended the forum.
The communique expressed the worry that: “Women are harassed in workplaces, intimidated in public spaces, exploited in relationships, and silenced in digital spaces.
“In fact, some face humiliation, forced marriages, sexual assault, economic deprivation, threats, or harmful cultural practices that strip them not only of their dignity, but also of their sense of safety and belonging,” it added.
It said: “What hurts us the most is not only the violence itself, but the silence that often follows. Too many survivors are left to navigate their pain alone and they encounter systems that are slow, under-resourced, and at times indifferent to their suffering.”
The communique noted that despite the existence of national laws and policy frameworks meant to safeguard the rights of women and girls, enforcement remained disappointingly weak, saying “reporting mechanisms are inconsistent and inaccessible for many rural women.”
It added that the community support systems though well-intentioned, remained fragile “as many cases never reach authorities and those that reach authorities never get the needed closure thereby pushing them back to those same abusers because survivors fear stigma, retaliation, or the loss of their livelihoods.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah