Kongo (U/E)-Ghana, Dec 08, GNA – Mr James Twene, Upper East Acting Regional Director of the Department of Gender, has advocated for intensified education and interventions on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) at the community levels to help eliminate the menace.
According to him, many people especially women and girls in rural communities continued to suffer gender-based violence but due to the cultural barriers and lack or little knowledge, victims and survivors were unable to seek help.
“We need to intensify our education at the community level because sometimes, it is like our focus is at the urban areas where somehow we know the issues and the channels we can report to, but in the communities, there is lack of knowledge and people don’t know the institutions to report abuse cases to,” he said.
He, therefore, underscored the urgent need for educational interventions and approaches to be designed and targeted at the rural community levels to empower the community structures particularly the leadership to help eliminate the development challenge.
The Acting Regional Director made these observations on the sidelines of community sensitisations on gender-based violence at Pitanga and Kundabore communities in the Nabdam District of the Upper East Region.
It formed part of activities marking this year’s 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence and it was supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The annual event which begins on November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women until December 10, Human Rights Day, was held on the theme, “Unite Activism to end violence against women and girls”.
The participants numbering over 200 were taken through various forms of gender-based violence such as physical, sexual, emotional, economic and social abuses among others.
Mr Twene explained that although men and boys suffered gender-based violence, women and girls who were already vulnerable by their nature suffered the most and called for collective efforts to fight violence against women and girls.
He said recent statistics from the Ghana Statistical Service revealed that more women suffered violence from intimate partners than men and noted that for the country to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, more needed to be done.
The Acting Regional Director advised members of the community to report abuses to the law enforcement agencies for redress and urged the community leaders including the chiefs to report criminal cases to the police for appropriate actions.
Mr Alfred Kurug Akpamah, one of the community members and member of men and boys club at Pitanga, reiterated their commitment to educate the community on the dangers of gender-based violence and other abuses and called for support from all stakeholders.
Mr Paul Bagbelah, a participant from the Kundabore community, noted that the education was enlightened and would go a long way to reduce the incidents of gender-based violence in the community and enable women and girls to live in an environment free of violence.
