Plan International Ghana calls for funding for domestic abuse survivors
17 August 2022Plan International Ghana has called on the Government to resource the Domestic Violence Fund and provide free medical care for domestic violence survivors as a matter of urgency.
Eric Ayaba, Northern Programme Influencing and Impact Area Manager, Plan International Ghana, giving a speech.
Plan International Ghana further called on the Government to make adequate budgetary allocations to state agencies such as the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) to operationalise the Domestic Violence Act.
Mr. Eric Ayaba, Northern Programme Influencing and Impact Area Manager of Plan International Ghana, who made the call, said the funding support would help to protect girls and the vulnerable against all forms of gender-based violence in society and guarantee them justice if they suffered any form of abuse.
Full support required for survivors of abuse
Mr. Ayaba delivered this statement at a media engagement organised in Tamale to commemorate this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence.
The event was in line with Plan International Ghana’s Women’s Innovation for Sustainable Enterprises project, which amongst others focused on gender equality and inclusion and the full realisation of human rights.
Enhance the capacity of key actors to ensure proper management of domestic violence cases.
The 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence is a global campaign which seeks to end violence against women and girls. This year’s campaign is themed: Orange the World: End Violence Against Women Now.
Justice for survivors of gender-based violence, especially defilement and rape, is a challenge because most are unable to pay for medical examination, which is crucial for proving such cases in court.
Also, rehabilitation for survivors of gender-based violence is a great challenge because there is no shelter for such persons and state agencies lack the resources to take care of survivors, hence the call by Plan International Ghana for the government to operationalise the Domestic Violence Fund as well as resource key state agencies to fully execute their functions.
End violence against women now
Mr. Ayaba called on the Government to “Consistently, enhance the capacity of key actors, including prosecutors, crime officers and medical officials amongst others to ensure proper management of domestic violence cases.”
He demanded that the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection play a lead role in coordinating response efforts for survivors of gender-based violence.
Mr. Ayaba urged the Ministry to consider reviving the National Domestic Violence Coordination mechanism to outline guidelines on data collection, reporting violence and responding to emergency requests from survivors of violence.
He called on the government to ensure that “Gender-based violence is part of the pandemic management and recovery efforts. It is critical to collect data on gender-based violence to inform ongoing policy decisions relating to the post-COVID-19 recovery efforts.”
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