Jema , (BE/R), April 15, GNA-The Centre for Migration and Africa Development (CEMDA), a non-governmental organisation has called for the establishment of Domestic /Sexual and Gender-based Violence Rapid Response Centers at all Municipal and District levels of the country.
Mr Isaac Kwabena Appiah, the Executive Director of CEMAD regretted incidences of domestic and sexual violence had assumed alarming proportions in the local communities, indicating that the Rapid Response Centres would greatly help to bring the situation under control.
The establishment of the centres in the district and municipal levels would make it easy for victims of domestic and sexual violence to lodge complaints and seek redress as well.
“Other than that the nationwide efforts to bring the surging cases of domestic and sexual violence under control will be unsuccessful”, Mr Appiah told the Ghana News (GNA) in an interview at Jema in the Kintampo South District of the Bono East Region.
“We are optimistic the setting up of these centres would go a long way to help victims seek redress, while perpetrators will also go unpunished. So the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection must act quickly on that”, he added.
Mr Appiah noted that domestic, sexual and gender-based violence being reported among mostly women and girls in society were barbaric, heinous and remained worst form of human rights abuses which ought to be brought under control.
“We wholeheartedly appreciate the diverse roles played by government, development partners and civil society towards eliminating this social menace from the Ghanaian society, cases keep increasing unreported due to stigmatization and victimization”, he said.
“Therefore the nation must create an atmosphere, where victims can freely go and report their ordeals to access justice and the Rapid Response Centres would serve this purpose”.
The establishment of the response centres, he added would help the nation to gain Sustainable Development Goal five of “eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls in public and private spheres, including trafficking, sexual and other types of exploitation”, by 2030.
“We are of a firm conviction that the establishment of the Domestic Violence Fund in 2009 borne out of the Domestic violence Act, 2007 (Act 732) was a good idea to resource regional and district offices to handle all related costs associated with cases of domestic violence.
“However, we feel disappointed that the fund has become a pale shadow of itself. We think the government must prioritize domestic violence issues and contribute to the fund to empower the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) to handle domestic violence cases more effectively”.
“As we speak there are several unreported cases of domestic and sexual violence in the local communities here and this is due to stigmatization, poverty and deprivation as the poorest of the poor are mostly victims”.
Mr Appiah called on the government to resource relevant state institutions like, the DOVVSU and Department of Social Welfare and the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) to carry on with their constitutional obligations effectively and help control the menace.
GNA