No matter her ‘features’, a girl below 16 has no right to say ‘yes’ to sex - Police caution men

The Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service is warning men to risk facing imprisonment for defilement if they have sexual intercourse with any girl below the age of 16 years no matter how mature she looks or sound; MyNewsGh.com reports.

According to DOVVSU, men who do not heed this caution risk facing a minimum of seven years in jail or maximum twenty-five years.

DOVVSU is also warning fathers, in particular, to be aware of sexual abuse liability if they continue bathing their daughters beyond a certain age.

Speaking at a sensitisation programme on the Domestic Violence Act, (Act 732), held at Dodowa Wesley Methodist Church in the Shai-Osudoku District of the Greater Accra Region monitored by MyNewsGH.com, Superintendent Sophia Eva Anim, of the Madina Office said the consent of a girl below 16 years to a sexual intercourse doesn’t count in a court of law no matter what.

The event was jointly organised by the Domestic Violence Secretariat of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and DOVVSU.

“Male adults who have sexual intercourse with girls below 16 years commit defilement even if the girl consented to the act and you would be sentenced to a minimum of seven years in prison and 25 years maximum.”

Explaining unnatural carnal knowledge to the participants of the sensitization program, she offenders who penetrate any young boy’s anus could face 25 years maximum jail time.

“When you use your penis to penetrate a young boy’s anus, that act is called unnatural carnal knowledge and the offender could spend a minimum of seven years in prison and 25 years maximum,” Supt. Anim explained”.