Kpone(GAR) , Nov. 28, GNA – Forty adolescent girls in Kpone have received facilitators’ training on the eradication of gender based violence in the country.
The beneficiaries were drawn from Kpone Methodist Basic A, Kpone Methodist Basic B, Kpone Presby Basic A and Kpone Presby Basic B schools.
The training organized by a non-government organization, Women, Media and Change (WOMEC), formed part of the 29th edition celebration of 16 days of activism against gender based violence.
The global theme for the celebration is, “Orange the world fun, respond prevent, collect, ”while the local celebration is on the theme: “Covid19 and safety of adolescent girls”
Dr Charity Binka, Executive Director of WOMEC, said since the founding of the organization, it had been committed to creating the platform to foster partnership with various segments of society towards the protection of the lives of women and girls.
Dr Binka said reports from Child Right International indicated that “two out of every five girls experience physical abuse and maltreatment during the outbreak of the pandemic, and about 5% of children experience maltreatment once or twice a day and it is true that adolescent girls suffer more violence than boys”
She said the Pandamic created more avenues for violence to be perpetrated against girls due to the restriction of movement and the hardship associated with it, stressing that there was no reason for any woman to suffer violence therefore there should be an avenue to support and empower women to be able to speak out.
She said WOMEC was planning to implement a two-year empowerment and mentorship program dubbed ‘turning point’ for mainly adolescent girls in selected schools in the Kpone-Kantamanso Municipality to curb gender based issues.
Dr Esther P.B. Danquah, Kpone-Katamanso Municipal Health Director, defined gender based violence as any harmful act perpetuated against a person.
Dr Danquah said in 2016, approximately 27.7 per cent Ghanaian women experienced at least one form of domestic violence, saying that records available to the Directorate showed that the Municipality in May 2019 documented 18 cases of domestic violence which had increased to 27 cases in May 2020.
She added that in June 2019, 19 cases were recorded as against the 44 cases recorded in June 2020 while 32 and 23 cases were respectively recorded in July 2019 and July 2020.
She said discrimination against girls in the society, abuse of power, gender inequality, alcohol abuse, conflicts, lack of police protection, poverty, and early marriage were the major forms of gender abuse in the country.
Madam Millicent Caeser, Deputy Director of Education in charge of finance, urged the girls to speak up when being abused as nobody would speak for them.
She called on teachers to be a pillar for the girls by helping them to stand against all forms of abuse, and encouraged the girls to add value to themselves to prevent people from taking advantage of them.
The event was sponsored by Plan International and Global Affairs Canada.
GNA