Community members in the Komenda Edna Eguafo Abream and the Agona Districts in the Central Region have undergone training and sensitization on violence against women and children to make them appreciate the rising incidents of the menace, so as to promote and protect the rights of women and girls.
The project is undertaken by the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre-a Ghanaian-based Non-Governmental Organization in collaboration with School of Public Health of the University of Ghana, with support from the South African Medical Research Council.
Already, over 100,000 members have been trained under the project through a Community-Based Action Team (COMBATS) concept.
At a sensitization programme for members from the Agona West and East Districts, including traditional authorities, religious leaders as well as personnel from state agencies at Agona Swedru, the Executive Director of the Centre, Mrs. Dorcas Coker Appiah admonished the participants to endeavour to protect the rights of women and girls by reporting all forms of violence acts against them to the relevant authorities, to help eradicate the menace in the society.
The COMBATS were trained on types of violence, its causes and impacts, family laws including the interstate succession laws, the rights of children as well as mediation and counseling, by serving as first point of contacts on issues of domestic violence in their respective communities.
She hinted that the Centre has also educated personnel from the various relevant state agencies such as the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice CHRAJ), the Social Welfare, the Ghana Education Service as well as the Ghana Health Service on the issue.
By: Robert Ayanful