Men beaten by their wives should ‘speak up’ – Otiko

Outgoing Minister for Gender and Social Protection, Otiko Afisa Dzaba has established that most Ghanaian men do not have the ‘emotional energy’ to report cases of physical abuse by their wives to the Domestic violence and victims support Unit (DOVSU).

She said men at a younger stage are taught not to express their emotions, to “suck it up” and “be a man’’ which has led to their silence when their wives beat them up.

Madam Otiko who was invited by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday, 14th August 2018 said these ‘battered’ men fail to speak up because the Ghanaian cultural setting clings to ‘narrow’ beliefs that men who are ‘beaten up’ by their wives are mostly weak.

‘’We have received a lot of calls in recent times from men who are abused by women. In our culture, it’s not manly enough to say your wife has beaten you up. So what I know is that it is happening but they don’t complain because they don’t want them to be seen as weak’’.

According to her, the rate at which women beat their husbands is alarming as some male victims could call her as late as 1 am to report cases of abuse by their wives.

She said the ministry is planning to embark on a survey and sensitization in Ghanaian homes to find out real causes of these problems as well as ways it can be eradicated.

‘’We intend to do an assessment and survey because I get personal letters from these men. Some of them even call me at 1 am. There was an incident about a woman using a stool to hit a man’s head, I asked the social welfare worker to take up the issue and we are currently working on it.



Madam Otiko also said the Gender ministry has been able to establish a call centre for victims to report their problems. This she said has helped increase the ability of men to report any form of domestic abuse.