GLADYS ASMAH DISMISSES GENDER ACTIVISTS' FEARS
By Othello B. Garblah & Constanze Haase

April 2, 2004 – (Ghanaian Chronicle - Accra) ... says gov't prepared to pass Domestic Violence bill into law.

Women and Children's Affairs Minister, Mrs. Gladys Asmah yesterday described as misleading and bewildering, the campaign by some gender activists and NGOs, aimed at creating the impression that the government was not prepared to pass the Domestic Violence Bill into law.

The Presbyterian - like minister who dispelled that perception and belief, said to say that the Government would not pass the bill this year because it was an election year was to say that the government could not be trusted.

"This is unfortunate, because a Government in power has responsibility to protect its people especially the vulnerable, the poor and the weak when their lives are threatened, whether in an election year or not," Mrs. Asmah stated.

Mrs. Asmah who had taken her turn at the government's weekly press briefing yesterday, said her ministry did not want to believe that some Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) wanted parliament to pass the bill because they had said so.

"We are in a democracy", she said, "everyone has the right to participate and contribute an opinion, particularly on the subject."

According to the minister, the position of some of the NGOs was clear on the bill, especially its clause which repealed the section of the criminal code on the marital obligations of spouses.

Mrs. Asmah assured Ghanaians that the government was prepared to pass the bill into law because the majority of Ghanaians desired such legislation.

The domestic violence bill is aimed at providing a comprehensive set of provisions that specifically protect persons, especially the vulnerable in society (i.e. women and children).

Approximately 95 % of the victims of domestic violence worldwide are women. Children may be victims of sexual and physical abuse.

The minister explained that there were also other forms of domestic violence. Aged family-members, sick and disabled, could suffer violence in the home, and even husbands could be attacked by their wives.

The bill also intended to call for a proactive role for the police, social workers, probation officers and health care providers in dealing with domestic violence.

She said that victims needed prompt, cost-effective and less traumatic means for redress more than the bureaucratic mechanism of law.

However, there were particles of dust in the air after the minister's speech when a coordinator of an NGO challenged a claim made by Mrs. Asmah that her ministry had invited stakeholders in 2003 to join the campaign on the domestic violence bill.

Nana Asante Afadizinu, the coordinator of the Coalition on Domestic Violence Legalization in Ghana, challenged to the effect that her organization had not received any invitation from the minister's outfit inviting it to be part of any programme.

"I also heard the minister mention that a letter was sent to the coalition, I like to say that as the coordinator of the coalition, we never received a letter from the ministry,
inviting the coalition to be part of any programme," Nana Asantewa said.

However, the minister, when asked by The Chronicle about whether a copy of the letter was available, said indeed, it was available for collection.

Meanwhile, it was not clear when the bill would be passed into law but the minister said it would be passed.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200404020592.html