About 275 million children witness domestic violence annually - UNICEF

Accra, April 6, GNA - About 275 million children world-wide witness domestic violence annually, a United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) report has revealed. It said 1.1 million children in 44 countries sampled were detained in cells with adults by security agencies annually. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Florence Arthur, Director, Community Policing Unit, Ghana Police Service (GPS), who announced this when addressing the Parallel 12th Crime Congress in Accra on Tuesday, called for the creation of separate cells for children in all police stations in the country. The Congress is a prelude to United Nations Congress on Crime scheduled for Salvador, Brazil from April 12-19. The United Nations Crime Prevention Congress is held every five years since its inception in 1955.

"The detention of juveniles should be the last option for any security officer. No juvenile under any circumstance should be detained with adults because it is against their social development", she said. ACP Arthur cited poverty, high unemployment rate and lack of skills as some of the factors which had led to the high increase in crime especially girls being lured into prostitution. She called for proper re-integration of criminals and their victims into society to enable them easily overcome their trauma. ACP Arthur lauded the government's determination to help prison inmates write the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) and urged all stakeholders in education to support the idea. Mr. Anthony Mensah, Executive Chairman of Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), an independent Police Support Group, commended the GPS for its contribution towards combating crime in the country and called for more public support for the service.

However, he cited lack of logistics, infrastructure, insufficient and underdeveloped human resource capacity and poor public perception on the Police as some of the factors hindering their work in the country. Mr. Mensah lauded the creation of individual foundations to support the Police to fight crime, and called for the creation of effective Community Policing System to enable the public express their concerns, advice and take actions to address constraints affecting effective policing. He called for the establishment of Youth Crime Prevention Clubs where the youth and adults could interact to fight crime in society.