Review negative cultural practices - CHRAJ
The Upper West Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Sebastian Ziem, has called for the reformation of certain cultural and traditional practices which he described as unconstitutional.
Advertisement
He mentioned that forced marriage and the practice of offering girls below 18 for marriage, which are prevalent in parts of northern Ghana, should not be encouraged, since they were a form of human rights abuse, an affront to their dignity and had the tendency of increasing divorce rates.
Mr Ziem, who made the call during a regional stakeholders’ workshop on ending forced and early marriages for service providers and civil society organisations in Wa in the Upper West Region, stressed that “there is the need to take a closer look at all forms of gender-based violence in our society.”
Research by ActionAid Ghana
Research conducted by ActionAid Ghana in 2010 indicated that 156 cases of marriage by abduction were reported and settled by the Community-Based Anti-violence Team (COMBAT). The following year, he said, 210 girls were abducted into early and forced marriages, while in 2012 and 2013, 51 and 15 girls, respectively, were reported to have been abducted in communities such as Wa, Kperisi, as well as in the Jirapa, Sissala-East and Lumbusi-Karni districts.
The programme, which attracted chiefs, opinion leaders and educationists, among others, was aimed at improving institutional response for the prevention of such marriages and finding protection and support for the victims. It was organised by CARE International Ghana, with sponsorship from the Canadian Government.
He said the act, mostly perpetrated by men, was against the fundamental human rights of the girls who were normally abducted below age 18 and without their consent, thereby preventing them from going to school.
Proactive measures
While calling for proactive measures to protect girls from forced and early marriages, he urged parents to take good care of their children by setting good examples for them to emulate, stressing that the issue was more complicated because it was linked to the cultural and traditional beliefs of the people, particularly in northern Ghana.
According to the Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Hamidu Haruna, child marriage is an issue that cannot be solved in isolation because of social, cultural and economic factors. He stressed that forced and early marriages should not be encouraged, since it was a form of domestic violence that led to an increase in maternal mortality, poverty and illiteracy. He, therefore, called on all stakeholders to come together and fight them in a holistic manner.
The Gender and Diversity Advisor of CARE International, Ghana, Ms Ayishetu Mikey Iddrisu, said their approach was to expand their collaboration to finding a lasting solution to their set target of bringing Positive Action Against Early Forced Marriage (PAFEM).
She called for measures to empower women through the eradication of poverty, ignorance and diseases in the communities.
She said the organisation was working to enlighten women on their rights, reduce domestic violence, enhance their economic empowerment and right to education.
