DOVVSU is not for only women - Police investigator

Madam Agnes Awuni, an Investigator with the Domestic Violence Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), Weija, says the unit is not for only women.

She said the unit was for domestic violence and abuse, hence men were included provided they were victims. Madam Awuni said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

The DOVVSU, formerly known as the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU) of the Ghana Police Service, was established in October 1998 as a specialized unit within the service in response to the increasing number of reported cases of abuse and violence against women and children.

In 2005, its name was changed to DOVVSU because many Ghanaians perceived it to be a place where only women and children could go and report cases or seek redress, so men shunned it.

The unit addresses all forms of abuse, be it physical, sexual, emotional/psychological, socio-economic, and harmful cultural practices. DOVVSU is expected to collaborate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other civil society organizations (CSOs) to aid victims in need of necessary support services.

Madam Awuni said men also experienced abuse but were ignorant of where to take their issues to be addressed and were shy and reluctant to report because of the way society had conditioned them. “You can see a woman treating the man badly, but he cannot report to DOVVSU because he is shy. Men can report their wives if they are denied sex or insulted,” she stated.

The investigator noted that when men endured their pains for long, they became abusive when they got to their breaking points.

“If men were not allowed to talk, they would react with their hands,” the investigator said. Madam Awuni encouraged men to patronize DOVVSU to address all issues of abuse meted out to them to minimize the cases of domestic violence and abuse. She called for men to be empowered to report all forms of domestic violence to the unit for assistance.

She said DOVVSU, among other functions, provided free services to the citizenry, conducted investigations into complaints, and advised victims.