Women in Tamale want LI to back domestic violence law

Some women in the Tamale Metropolis took to the street on Friday calling on the government and the Legislature to provide a Legislative Instrument (LI) to ensure the full implementation of the Domestic Violence Act.

They concerted that since the Domestic Violence Act (Act732) was passed by parliament in 2007, there had been numerous challenges affecting the effective implementation of the DV law perpetuating violence in the region.

Their petition, which was read by Miss Veronica Abdulai, spokesperson for the women, and presented to the Northern Regional Coordinating Director, Mr. Joseph Mahama Dasanah, urged the President to ensure that parliament passes the appropriate Legislative Instrument on the domestic violence law.

ActionAid Ghana (AAG) and Urban Agriculture Network (UrbanNet), both non-governmental organizations organized the procession seeking to draw government’s attention to the need for an LI.

The processors carried placards some of which read; “DV law cannot work well without LI”, “Report domestic violence, do not suffer in silence”, “The DV law needs teeth to bite, pass the LI now”, “Spousal battery must end today”, “Government, resource state agencies to fight domestic violence”.

Miss Abdulai said in the absence of the LI, various human rights violations such as rape, defilement, wife battery, child neglect and accusation of witchcraft were still very high in the Northern Region, most of which were not reported.

She urged the government to show more commitment by establishing and allocating adequate budget and resources to the Domestic Violence Fund as provided by the law.

Miss Abdulai impressed on the need for the government to resource the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DVVSU), CHRAJ, Attorney Generals Department, Social Welfare Department and other relevant institutions to deal appropriately with cases of domestic violence.

Mr. Joseph Mahama Dasanah, Northern Regional Coordinating Director who received the petition on behalf of the Regional Minister promised to send the petition to the appropriate quarters for redress and assured that their concerns would be considered.

He said there was the need for stakeholders to find out the root causes of violence to help the process of stopping it and condemned any form of violence in society.

Mr. Dasanah also observed that women were equally part of the perpetrators of violence, alluding that, there are times that women themselves commit violence in society.

Miss Safia Musah, Programme Officer of AAG, said her outfit remains committed to fighting all kinds of violence in the communities and hoped that government would listen to the concerns of the women and pass the LI.**