Pg. 11 ... Jan. 08/08
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe Duho
The Domestic Violence (DV) Law was passed by Parliament in February last year to protect victims of domestic violence in the country.
The victims of domestic violence are men, women and children but it has been identified that most victims of domestic violence are women, majority of who fail to report such violence to the police due to poverty, family ties and other social and economic issues.
Although it is generally agreed that men also suffer some form of violence in the domestic settings, violence against women far outweighs that against men.
To make the implementation of the provisions of the DV Law effective to cater adequately for the interest of victims of domestic violence, the Domestic Violence Coalition in conjunction with the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs is in the process of finalising a national implementation policy document.
The document will help streamline activities of the various stakeholders and also give them guidelines and directives to facilitate the implementation process.
The Co-ordinator of the DV Coalition, Mr Adolf Awuku Bekoe, in an interview, was optimistic that by the end of January 2008, the document will be inaugurated by MOWAC.
He said when completed, the document, which reached its final stages of compilation at the end of last year, will place emphasis on the various roles to be played by the various agencies involved in the implementation of the law, as well as outline the roles and responsibilities of the DV Law Management Board, which he said was yet to be inaugurated.
Mr Bekoe was optimistic that Parliament would adopt the implementation document, stressing that, that was the only way to regulate activities of the various stakeholders of the law.
He said when finalised, the document would consist of a national plan of action and describe the details of activities to be undertaken under the law, as well as spell out the plan of action for the attainment of the objectives of the law.
Mr Bekoe said since the passage of the law, the coalition had undertaken various educational programmes for the successful implementation of the DV Law, and indicated that this would be sustained to enlighten all on the various provisions.
He said the coalition had organised a consultative seminar for regional officers of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) from all the 11 regional commands of the service, and added that the exercise was used to iron out some of the difficulties that the police faced in terms of handling issues on domestic violence.
Copies of the DV Law, he also said, had been made available to all DOVVSU officers to ensure that they were abreast with provisions of the law.
According to him, the coalition currently seeks to hold a national consultation dialogue this year to bring together the judiciary, police and prison officers and other stakeholders to discuss the law dispassionately for its successful implementation.
He conceded that there was still much to be done and that the coalition would start massive educational campaigns in the various communities this year to inform more people about the law.
Mr Bekoe also said the coalition intended to sensitise more men to feel comfortable to report abuses they suffered in the domestic setting to the police.
The coalition will also strengthen its structures, infrastructure and logistics to be able to take up the challenge of championing the cause for the successful implementation of the law.
He said the major challenge confronting the coalition was lack of funds, but pointed out that, that would not to deter the coalition from undertaking its activities.
He said the coalition would fall on its internally generated funds as well as count on the support of MOWAC, where most funds from donor agencies were channelled.
He was hopeful that MOWAC would make funds available to organisations whose work directly impacted on issues and/or victims of domestic violence.
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