CHRAJ official urges rape victims to report cases to avoid haunting

Tema, March 28, GNA - Mrs Joyce Boahen, Acting Tema Municipal Director of Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has called on victims of sexual abuse to muster the courage to report their ordeal to avoid being haunted.

Addressing students of Tema Community Eleven Complex School at its third in a series of its public education campaign over the weekend at Tema, she said suppression of their encounter could haunt them psychologically for life.

She therefore asked victims of sexual abuse to ignore threats of death should they reveal their encounter and free their conscience of unproductive thinking by exposing the rapists to be dealt with by the law.

This would give them an inner satisfaction, because keeping quiet over a painful ordeal can cause health problems.

According to her, failure to reveal it could also affect their marriages, because they may occasionally put up traits that could be noticed by their husbands and lead to divorce.

To prove their case at court she entreated rape victims to endeavour to shout for help, destroy the rapist's clothing or give him a mark on the body to serve as evidence. The students showed by their questions that they had knowledge about sex. For instance a boy wanted to know what men could use as evidence if women raped them.

Mrs Florence Lamptey Okosso, Public Education Officer of the CHRAJ educated the students on how to lead moral lives to avoid falling victims and the rights they enjoy under the Children's act. At an earlier meeting with the "Nyame Ye Do Kuw" a women's benevolent society, Mrs Boahen called on wives to ensure that their marriages were secured to prevent unpleasant situation when the time arises.