Police calls for support for domestic violence victims

Tema, Jan 12, GNA - The Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVS= U) of the Ghana Police Service has called for improvement in the handling of=

domestic violence cases which often ended with the imprisonment of perpetrators. Assistant Superintendent of Police Rebecca Nyamah, Tema Regional Co-ordinator of DOVVSU, told the GNA in an interview with the GNA that th= e victims were left to cater for their medical expenses after the perpetrat= ors were imprisoned.

ASP Nyamah said most of the victims, whose livelihood depended on the perpetrators who mostly turned out to be relatives and employees, preferr= ed enduring the violence to losing their sources of survival. She, therefore, suggested that the government should to put in measures that would support the victims after the accused persons had been jailed in order to build confidence in the public to report such crimes. She said some victims could not afford funds for transport to the hospit= al, payment for medical check ups as well as getting professional counselling= to overcome their trauma.

ASP Nyamah said several adjournments of cases could be attributed to victims losing interest in attending court proceedings because apart from=

not having money for transportation victims saw it as a waste of time knowing that they would not be awarded any compensation by the courts. "After going through the trauma, spending so much money on medical bills=

and time for court sessions nothing is awarded to the victims and they ar= e left to their fate", she said.

She appealed to the government to provide nationwide office for DOVVSU w= ith logistics, especially vehicles, as personnel often depend on victims and on their own personal resources for transportation to the scene of the crime=

and the arrest of perpetrators.