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The Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) has established a Girls Empowerment Club at the Osu Presbyterian Preparatory School to educate girls on their reproductive and sexual rights as part of efforts to deal with sexual abuse in schools. According to the organisation, the establishment of the club comes in the wake of the reported cases of abuse of girls in schools by some teachers and some male students. The inauguration The Programme Manager of WiLDAF-Ghana, Mrs Patricia Isabella Essel, said 35 young girls from the school, aged between 12 and 16, had gone through an intensive six-month training on communication and leadership skills, gender, human rights, personal hygiene, domestic violence and sexual abuse. She said this at the inaugural ceremony dubbed: �Peer Motivators� in Accra. The training was to enable the young girls to acquire knowledge on issues related to sexual relationship. Although this was the first club to be initiated by WiLDAF, the organisation intends to extend the initiative to the various schools in the regions to ensure a sexual abuse free society. Under the programme, more pupils would be trained every year to provide the needed information and support to their peers, and serve as agents of change, both in school and at home�. Activities of the club Activities of the club are to be funded by Crossroads International (CI), a Canadian non-governmental organisation, which is dedicated to promoting the rights of women and girls and organising programmes to raise awareness of issues affecting women in Africa. WiLDAF-Ghana, a pan-African non-governmental organisation, founded in 1990, with headquarters in Lusaka, Zambia, also seeks to protect and empower women to contribute to sustainable development. Mrs Essel said, �Every girl-child has the right to live a dignified life free of discrimination, and they should have opportunities which include access to justice, education, good health and enjoy a violence-free life.� According to her, the trained girls, who were to serve as peer motivators, would educate and empower their peers who may be victims of child abuse, in support of the � Say No to violence� campaign. Mrs Essel explained that eliminating sexual abuse against girls required sustained education and increased awareness creation of the rights of girls. Young girls advised The Liaison Officer for Ghana-CI, Ms Ambra Yirenkye, advised the trained girls to share the knowledge they had acquired with others for the benefit of society. She also encouraged young boys to support the motivators to spread the message. The headteacher of the Osu Presby Preparatory School, Mrs Theresa Okantey, commended the two organisations and pledged her support to aid the peer motivators in achieving their aims.