Muslim women leaders pledge to end child marriage
Muslim women leaders and local traditional leaders from Maamobi, Nima and Accra New Town have pledged to use their roles to support efforts by the police to help end child marriages which they said, were rampant in these areas.
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They made the pledge during a sensitisation meeting, organised by the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, as part of efforts to accelerate anti–child marriage campaigns.
At the meeting, the Muslim leaders expressed their readiness to work with the police, especially the DOVVSU personnel, to bring the abuse of children’s rights to an end.
Statistics
In Ghana, the legal age for marriage is 18 for both girls and boys. However, some are offered for marriage, as at age 16, with the consent of their parent.
Statistics available at DOVVSU show that 21 per cent of girls in Ghana are married before they are 18 but rates can be as high as 39 per cent in the northern part of the country.
Over the years, there had been a growing concern for child marriage in Ghana from all actors, including civil society organisations, the government and development partners with recent data showing that the practice was slowly decreasing.
In a welcome address, the Deputy Director of DOVVSU, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mrs Lydia Osei Agyapong, said child marriage was dangerous to girls and added that it was the duty of every stakeholder to protect the rights of children.
She said the practice of child marriage had robbed millions of girls of their childhood rights and dignity in the country.
“Child marriage is a harmful practice, a violation of human rights that disproportionately affects girls and their rights to education, health, security, choice and often leads to social isolation and violence,” she said.
Mrs Osei Agyapong said girls who were pushed into child marriage stood a greater risk of being exposed to domestic violence and sexual abuse from their older husbands.
She urged residents within the Zongo communities, where such practices were considered common, to always alert the police of such plans, and urged the Muslim women leaders to endeavour to encourage their young girls to go to school since education was a key to success.
Criminal offence
The Director of the Women in Law and Development Africa (WiLDAF), Mrs Melody Darkey, warned that people who married girls below the age of 16 years committed a crime which was punishable by law.
She said child marriage caused maternal deaths, infant mortality, under-weight and malnutrition in children, and stressed that “Every child has the right to education, healthcare, security among others”.
A teacher, Mrs Shafaatu Alhassan Daud, who shared her experience on child marriage with the gathering, said: “Most parents in our communities take decisions for their children and end up jeopardising their future”.
