Campaign on violence against children in and around Schools launched

Accra, April 16, GNA - A national advocacy campaign dubbed; "Learn without Fear", which aims at ending all forms of violence against children in and around schools was on Thursday launched in Accra. Violence, which seems to take place in and around schools, includes bullying, corporal punishment and sexual abuse.

Speaking at the launch of the three-year campaign, Dr William Ahadzie, Acting Director, Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, said issues bordering on sexual abuse were culturally sensitive but they needed to be discussed dispassionately.

The three-year programme, which also seeks to create awareness among children, is being organized by Plan Ghana in collaboration with United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Vision International and Action Aid. Dr Ahadzie said research showed that violence against children manifested through the use of guns and knives noting that the effects sometimes lasted perpetually.

According to him perpetrators sometimes intimidated victims and used gifts as baits before the commission of the crime.

"Male students demand sex in exchange, others do that for financial gains," Dr Ahadzie said, adding that these crimes had damaging effects on victims, including the loss of concentration and increase in sexually transmitted diseases."

Dr Ahadzie, a social policy analyst, therefore tasked teachers to create an enabling environment for children saying "children need peaceful mind in school in order to realise their dreams and potentials". Ms Akua Sena Dansua, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, said the issues of violence against children could not be tackled by individuals alone and called for more support from the private sector and other stakeholders.

"Children on the way to and from school suffer some forms of violence. All these forms of violence were sometimes not reported to the appropriate authorities."

Ms Dansua lauded Plan Ghana for the initiative and tasked staff to extend the programmes to the deprived and poor communities so that children would have more information on issues of violence. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Freeman Tetteh of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service said in spite of the challenges confronting the unit it would continue to fight all forms of violence.

ASP Tetteh reminded the public that it was an offence not to report cases of violence to the Police and tasked the public to furnish the Police with information on all forms of violence. "Cases of sexual abuse are felonies that should not be settled at family levels," he added.

ASP Tetteh urged the children to do away with fear and report cases on all forms of violence to enhance justice delivery. Mr Samuel Paulos, Country Director for Plan Ghana, said the organization was embarking on a global education campaign in about 66 countries in response to a United Nations Report in 2006. Mr Paulos noted that under the campaign, Plan Ghana had identified three key areas of violence notably corporal punishments, bullying and sexual abuse.

These, he said, if unchecked could lead to school dropouts, poor academic performance, teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/ AIDS.

Mr Paulos therefore called for more support from all stakeholders to create an enabling environment for children.

In her welcoming address, Ms Fatima Bolly, a student of Tamale Secondary School, paid tribute to Malaysia and Singapore which, she said, had developed even though the two and Ghana attained independence at the same level and attributed their development to investment made in their children.