Mrs Richlove Anima Barchie, an Assistant Programme’s Officer at Bono Regional office of the Department of Gender expressed concern about rising human rights and sexual abuse of women and girls, and called on everybody to help remove bottlenecks inimical to their growth and development.
She said outmoded and harmful traditional and socio-cultural practices such as widowhood rites, child marriages, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) infringed on the fundamental human rights of women and girls.
Mrs Barchie raised the concerns at a focus panel discussion to mark the International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration held at Odumase in the Sunyani West Municipality organised by the NGO with support from European Union (EU) through OXFAM and WiLAF.
It was attended by representatives from the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), Gender Department, Ghana Education Service, Assembly Members and Legal Literacy Volunteers.
The United Nations (UN) has set aside March 8, every year for the celebration of the IWD to highlight the cultural, political and socio-economic achievements of women across the globe and this year’s celebration is on the theme “gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow, breaking the bias”.
Mrs Barchie said “these harmful traditional practices make women inferior and kill their capabilities and everybody must support in bringing them to an end”.
Mr Ernest Owusu, the Project Officer of the Sustainable Mission Aid Ghana (SMAid), non-governmental organisation advocated equal opportunities for women to contribute in decision making processes.
He said women to be empowered economically, not only make them self-reliant, but to position them well to enable them to contribute significantly to nation building as well.
“Many women lack economic empowerment, making them victims of domestic violence abuses”, Mr Owusu stated, saying empowering women would enable them to contribute to development.
While commending women for their contributions in the upkeep of families, Mr Owusu said the role of women ought to be recognised and appreciated to motivate more women to build their self-esteem and take up leadership roles in society as well.
He said the SMAid was implementing the “ENOUGH” project aimed at empowering women and girls to end sexual and gender based violence.
The project has offered entrepreneurship training to 350 women and 10 girls of domestic violence to make them self-reliant.
Mr Bright Asare, an Investigator at the Bono Regional office of the DOVVSU advised women to engage in viable economic activities to support the needs of the family, and called for the need to encourage women to take leadership responsibilities in society.
Hjia Rukaya Baba, a Senior Investigator at CHRAJ commended women for their selfless effort in making their homes lively, and tasked them to report all forms of domestic violence abuses against them to the relevant institutions.
Skynewsroom
