‘Let’s Leverage Our Efforts To Stop Gender-Based Violence’ - Samira

Mrs Samira Bawumia, the Wife of the Vice President, has reiterated her call for the leveraging of efforts towards the elimination of Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) and Harmful Practices.

She said this would ensure the prudent use of resources and help in achieving concrete results.
Mrs Bawumia made the call at the maiden meeting of the Advisory Body of the Coalition of People Against SGBV and Harmful Practices (CoPASH/HP) in Accra on Thursday.

Mrs Bawumia, who is also the Convener of CoPASH, stressed the importance of building collective efforts and synergies to fight SGBV, saying it was unacceptable for Ghana to be counted among the leading countries with the prevalence of such abuses.

She gave some global statistics, which showed that 35 per cent, about one in every three women worldwide, had experienced SGBV and harmful practice.

Data from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service indicates that over 177,849 cases of SGBV, including rape, defilement, incest and child marriages, were reported to the Unit between 2000 and 2013.

Again the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey of 2014 also showed that one in every five girls were married before their 16th birthdays, and Ghana has been classified among 29 countries in Africa and the Middle East where Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) was still prevalent despite the numerous efforts being made to halt the crime.

Mrs Bawumia stated that although there had been ongoing efforts to stop SGBV, the uncoordinated manner of such activities and programmes had led to stagnated results, adding that the only way to achieve quality outcomes was through the formation of a solid and united front, which was being offered by the CoPASH platform.

She pledged her commitment towards leading in the fight of stopping SGBV and mobilizing the needed resources to ensure justice for victims.

She urged the youth and Civil Society Organisations to lend their support towards advocacy and public education on rights and responsibilities regarding these issues.