NMC calls for laws to bar disclosure of identity of rape victims
The National Media Commission has called for the passage of laws that will make it illegal and a punishable offence to disclose the identity of victims of sexual assault as well as publish their photographs.
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According to the commission, it was only through such a law that victims of sexual abuse could be granted their perpetual anonymity and protection.
In a press statement signed by NMC Chairman, Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, the commission said a similar law was in existence in the United Kingdom and that over there it was unlawful for individuals and the media to disclose the identity of victims of sexual assault either through the publication of their photographs and identity.
By this the commission said the privacy and dignity of victims of sexual abuse are granted.
The NMC’s statement sought to add support to an earlier statement issued by the Ministry of Gender, Women and Social Protection that requested the media to show "sensitivity, circumspection and respect with regard to their reportage" on the alleged kidnapping and sexual assault of a Takoradi-based radio presenter.
“The media, traditional and social, as advised by the statement, should respect the privacy and dignity of the lady radio presenter by not publishing the pictures of the lady in her ordeal, ” it said.
“The media is hereby reminded about generally accepted universal standards as enshrined in the Code of Ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association to respect the privacy and dignity of victims of sexual assault.”
“We urge all media outlets which have the photographs of the lady presenter on their website to remove them immediately,” the statement added.
Naana Apea Antwi, the presenter of Takoradi-based YFM who is commonly known among her work colleagues as Ada, a.k.a.Adaezie Onyinyechie Ayoka was said to have been abducted last week and sexually assaulted by some individuals.
She was found Tuesday morning and has since been receiving treatment in hospital.
She was missing for about five days while her alleged abductors reportedly took pictures of her sexual ordeal and posted same on Facebook. Some of the pictures have also been circulating on Whatsapp.
Police investigations have however gathered mixed reactions to the whole episode pointing to the fact that the incident may have been staged.
One of the guys in the pictures, an 18-year-old Nelson Williams, a carpenter at Abbossey Okai in Accra is in the grips of the police.
He has told the police they never had sex with the lady and that she posed for the pictures to be taken and sent to her boyfriend who had jilted her for another girlfriend.
The pictures, he said were to convince the boyfriend that his new girlfriend was behind the action and torture.
Williams reportedly told the police that he was not paid for his role.
Investigations are still ongoing.
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