Chief Superintendent Rev Mrs Lawrencia Akorli (left), Coordinating Director of DOVVSU, Dr Jemima Kankam (2nd left), a Fellow of the Association of Psychiatrists, and Rev Comfort Asare (3rd left), Director, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in an interaction. Picture: Maxwell Ocloo

Medical students launch campaign against child sexual abuse

Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori Sep - 18 - 2017 , 05:53 2 minutes read

The Standing Committee on Human Rights and Peace (SCORP), a committee under the Federation of the Ghana Medical Students Association (FGMSA), has launched a campaign against child sexual abuse.

Targeted at children from age one to 17, the campaign will sensitise the public to the horrid effects of child sexual abuse on the child, family, community and the country at large.

It will also coax victims to come out and speak concerning their experiences to identify the culprits and let the authorities bring them to book.

Speaking at the launch last Saturday, the Head of the project, Mr Kennedy B. Ngaaso, said the campaign would encourage legislators to make stricter laws and also get the law enforcement agencies to enforce laws in order to deter potential culprits.

The campaign, he said, would also increase support for victims.

“Following countless reports on child sexual abuse, we want to fight the menace that is eating deep into our moral fabric and denying poor innocent children their human rights; a menace that physically, emotionally and psychologically traumatises our younger children and leaves them in misery. This must stop,” he said.

Mr Ngaaso said that parents, teachers and caregivers would be empowered to identify cases and file reports to the appropriate authorities.

DOVVSU

The Coordinating Director at the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Rev. Laurencia W. Akorli, said the unit would strengthen its relationship with medical practitioners and allied health service providers to collectively promote justice for victims of abuse.

According to her, child abuse cases constituted close to 20 per cent of the cases recorded by the unit.

“Nothing can stabilise a survivor without justice. In this case, we cannot say we have provided succor for a victim of abuse if we do not ensure that a good case docket has been prepared to gain conviction,” she added.

Approach to child abuse

In a statement delivered on her behalf, the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms Gifty Twum Ampofo, recommended a more radical approach to tackling the social barriers which prevented victims of child sexual abuse from having a safe and healthy childhood.

“The Human Trafficking and the Domestic Violence secretariats of the ministry are working with the security agencies and the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General’s Department to ensure that those who are apprehended engaging in child trafficking, abuse and exploitation are duly prosecuted and punished accordingly,” she said.

“Sexual abuse is wrong, regardless of who it happens to or who makes it happen. We need to name, shame and prosecute those who commit such dire acts,” Ms Ampofo added.