SIXTEEN DAYS OF ACTIVISM AGAINST GENDER VIOLENCE
By Isabella Gyau Orhin, Accra

The crusade continues

December 1, 2003 – (Public Agenda - Accra) Women Rights activists are celebrating the annual 16 days of activism against gender violence. The event started on November 25 and will end on December 10th. Various women's rights organizations have embarked on a number of programmes to commemorate the event.

Research shows that one in three women has suffered from physical violence while one in three has also suffered from psychological violence.

One in four has been threatened with physical violence while one in three has been sexually harassed. Over 90 percent of the perpetrators of these crimes are men with 95 percent being close relatives.

This situation is made worse by the fact that law enforcement agencies have not been adequately equipped with the tools to deal wit the problem.
The Deputy Inspector General Of Police Elisabeth Mills Robertson has admitted that although most domestic violence cases are reported to the police first, most victims do not receive the needed response.

"We are hamstrung by many factors," she said. "These include lack of requisite skills and expertise by police personnel in the receiving of
complaints, investigation, apprehension and prosecution of perpetrators. In domestic violence cases."

Mills Robertson was speaking at an intra Consultative Workshop on Domestic Violence in Accra earlier in the year.

"It is common knowledge that the Ghana Police Service is confronted with dearth of materials and logistics."

She assured her audience that the situation would improve now that the Federation African Women Lawyers has trained about 200 policewomen on the dynamics and methodology in handling domestic violence cases.

She described domestic violence as a multifaceted issue, which requires a multi sectoral approach to tackle it.

Mills Robertson said special strategies and policies are needed not only because of its harmful effects and complex nature but also because domestic violence is a crime that violates human rights.

"All stakeholders in the handling of issues involving domestic violence need to have a clear understanding of their roles, " she said.

According to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, stakeholders also need networking to combat crime. "Our aim is to make Ghana a domestic violence-free country," she said.

Ghana has gone beyond appeals to sponsoring a Bill on Domestic Violence, which although initiated by Women's Rights activists has the support of government and other Civil Society groups.

However one area of controversy has been a portion which sought to criminalise marital rape. Part II under the Protection Orders of the Bill states that the court may prohibit a person from "forcing the applicant to engage in any sexual contact whether married or not or engaging in any sexual contact that abuses, humiliates or degrades the applicant or otherwise violates the applicants sexual integrity whether married or not."

While some women's rights activists who are sponsoring the bill say they are eagerly lobbying Parliament to pass the bill, several men and traditional authorities are annoyed by the presence of this portion which they interpret to mean criminalising marital rape.

A Coordinator for the Network for Women's Right Dzodzi Tsikata says the Bill has brought to the fore a debate among many Ghanaians as to whether rape in marriages exist. "Women have to be vigilant about it and ensure that it is passed," Tsikata said.

However, Gladys Asmah, Minister for Women and Children's Affairs says definitions of domestic violence emanating from other cultures, particularly Western, European and American notions, concepts and traditions may not necessarily be appropriate for Ghana's circumstances.

She said differences in culture makes it imperative that certain laws, especially with regards to the issue of marital rape in the proposed domestic violence bill ought to be thought through properly.

"What happens when a woman comes out publicly to say that she has been raped by her husband or that she has been forced into bed by her husband.? She runs to the police, the man is arrested, charged, convicted and sentenced. The question is: can this woman return to her matrimonial home when her husband is in prison or heavily fined?" she asked.

"My Ministry believes that giving society and for that matter the people of Ghana the opportunity to consider other options will be welcomed because every traditional area may have its own ideas about what constitutes marriage or domestic violence and how to address it."

Asmah says statistics from the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Police Service indicates that only five percent of men have been involved in wife battering cases.

"I want a situation whereby, the behaviour of the 95 percent of men will rob off the behaviour of the five percent in society," she asserts.

A supreme Court Judge, Justice Brobbey, on his part says Justice delivery in domestic violence cases raises a number of issues.

He said sometimes advise from the Attorney-General's office may take a long time. "This is a genuine problem because the AG's department is grossly understaffed. But what has that got to do with complainant who feels he has been seriously wronged? To him the answer is simple; employ more staff."

Another issue that Justice Brobbey talked about was the issue of prosecution. He said usually several cases are assigned to one prosecutor while the law makes it clear that a case should be struck out if the prosecutor fails to appear in court and does not give any tangible excuse.

"That creates a dilemma for the judge. How does he or she strike out a case involving for instance an alleged rapist, especially where the case has attracted much public attention and sometimes public outrage?"

He said the trial of domestic violence cases also has problems associated with it. "The established policy of the law is that trials involving children should be conducted in camera to protect the privacy of the child but at the same time, we tend to lose an important element in the criminal process of deterrence achieved by publicity of the trial," Justice Brobbey said.

He explained that the grant or refusal of bail too has its implications in sexual and domestic violence cases especially where the accused on release from custody will return to the same spouse he has brutalized.

"Sometimes if the judge gets to know that the accused is the breadwinner and that the complainant is unemployed housewife; what is the judge expected to do?" Justice Brobbey asked.

Last week, the Women and Children Minister launched the National Outreach Programme on the Bill aimed at soliciting views from stakeholders on it. "We want a non -violent means of resolving inter gender and spousal misunderstandings," she said.

Meanwhile, the Women Initiative for Self Empowerment (WISE) has called on all Ghanaians to help report abusive husbands and relatives to the police.

The Ark Foundation is also saluting the United Nations, Ghanaian Ministers, Members of Parliament and the security agencies that have helped with the fight against gender based violence.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200312011334.html