Obuasi is gradually becoming very notorious for domestic violence against women and children.
This is because almost every day new cases of domestic violence against women and children are reported to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service.
Inspector Louisa Suglo, of the Obuasi DOVVSU, who made this known, said the upsurge of domestic violence against women and children in the area was becoming alarming and there was the need for immediate action to curtail it.
She was speaking at a public sensitization program held at Tutuka market in the Obuasi East District, to create awareness on issues of domestic violence to mark the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence.
It was organized by the Obuasi East District Assembly in partnership with AngloGold Ashanti, CHRAJ and DOVVSU.
The United Nations General Assembly has designated November 25 as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
The premise of the day is to raise awareness around the world that women are subjected to rape, domestic violence and other forms of violence.
According to Inspector Suglo, the police were always confronted with an issue of physical, emotional and sexual abuse against women.
“There are always new cases of domestic violence reported every day at the DOVVSU Office.
We are always confronted with issues of physical, emotional and sexual abuse of women”, she told the people at the event.
She said DOVVSU had for some time now, put in place measures such as continuous community outreach and sensitization programmes to help end the increasing domestic violence cases in the area.
This is being done by moving from one school to the other, market places, lorry stations and others, to sensitize girls, women and children on how to guard against domestic violence.
Globally, 38 per cent of murder cases are perpetrated against women by intimate mates, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), therefore, raising the alarm on the importance to implement stringent measures to address the canker.
Additionally, according to the statistics available at the Accra Regional Office of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), as of August 2020, 31.9 percent of Ghanaian women have faced at least one form of domestic violence – physical, economic, psychological, social or sexual.
Inspector Suglo said plans were also afoot for DOVVSU to embark on vigorous campaigns to create awareness on the need for women and girls to report cases of domestic violence to DOVVSU.
Mr Samuel Asante Yeboah, from the Ashanti Regional Office of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on his part, charged women to report cases of domestic violence immediately it happened and not wait till it got out of hand.
He said the laws of the country clearly spelt out punishments for those who perpetrated violence against women, insisting that institutions like CHRAJ, DOVVSU and Social Welfare exist to offer help to victims of domestic violence.
Ms Mavis Nana Yaa Kyei, Social Development and Gender Superintendent at AngloGold Ashanti, said the mining giant remained committed to empower women by supporting the campaign to end violence against women and children.
“We supported this sensitization program at Tutuka because of our stance against violence meted out to women and children”, she stated
Mr Godwin Bansah, the Social Welfare and Community Development Officer of the Obuasi East district, attributed the upsurge in domestic violence cases to teenage pregnancy and its resultant early marriages.
He proposed that girls should be properly groomed in order to have a successful future.
Mrs Anna Aidoo Acquah, Gender Desk Officer of the Obuasi East District Assembly, assured women in the district that the Assembly’s offices were always opened to receive and act on complaints of violence and abuses against them.