Rape and defilement are the abuses mostly reported by callers to the sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) hotlines across the country.
The victims or survivors of the rape or defilement were usually lured with food, mobile phones and dresses, among others. A helpline handler at the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Mr Ishmael Selassie, who made this known, said the situation was worrying, therefore, there was the need for a collective effort to end the menace. “We need to scale up our interventions to help victims of abuse,” he stressed.
SGBV reports
Mr Selassie, who is also the Youth Programmes Coordinator at the PPAG, was speaking to the Daily Graphic after a hotline training organised by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in partnership with the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service. The three-day workshop, supported by the Canadian government and Multi-party Trust Fund (MPTF) Secretariat, sought to equip SGBV response managers to effectively manage SGBV reports. Mr Salassie indicated that those who called with abuse cases included young people, adults, women and men.
“Very often the adults call on behalf of victims who are young girls. We rarely get abuse cases that are related to males,” Mr Selassie said. He mentioned that other abuse cases often reported were assault, parental neglect and battering. “We also get calls of sexual harassment where young girls report older men harassing them for sex,” he added.
Victim Support
Mr Selassie explained that the PPAG provided multiple support for victims and survivors of SGBV, however, DOVVSU was the foremost place that the SGBV response managers referred cases to. For students, he said the SGBV response managers referred cases to guidance and counselling officers at the respective schools to follow up.
“In cases such as sexual harassment, victims need someone to watch over them so we refer them to guidance and counselling officers in schools to look out for them, speak out for them and protect them,” he explained.
Meanwhile, he said the PPAG had initiated a series of programmes to educate people, including young girls, on safety skills and how to recognise instances of abuse and flee.
Commendation
For her part, the National Director of DOVVSU, Chief Superintendent Owusuwaa Kyeremeh, expressed gratitude to the SGBV response managers for their effort to support the unit to help victims get abuse cases resolved. “I can say handling helpline calls is very stressful so I thank you all very much for your effort,” she stated. She also commended the DOVVSU officials and encouraged them to effectively apply skills learnt about how to handle helpline calls to sustain it.
BY: Rejoice Lavinia Eklu
Source: Graphic Online