Protect children from abuse - Inspector Darkwah

The Head of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service in the Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District, Detective Inspector Ernest Darkwah, has called on parents to protect their children at all times to prevent them from being abused.

He noted that children were vulnerable and so parents should strive to provide for both their physical and emotional needs, so that they would not become victims of abuse.

He stressed that providing for the physical needs of children was not the only solution to their problems, pointing out that children needed love and affection from parents, guardians and the elderly for their growth and development.

Inspector Darkwah made the call when he addressed a child protection awareness forum organised by the Breman Cluster under Compassion International Ghana, a Christian child sponsorship non-governmental organisation (NGO) at Breman Asikuma in the Central Region.

Held on the theme: ‘Child Protection: Our collective Responsibility’, the event was preceded by a route march through the principal streets of the town, with the children holding placards with inscriptions which called on the public to protect children.

About 4,500 children from 15 project sites within the cluster are being sponsored by Compassion International Ghana.

Inspector Darkwah noted that children were ignorant of most of their actions and that parents should always be closer to them in order to detect anything that was negatively bothering them.

According to him, it was unacceptable for parents to distance themselves from their children, adding that “such a situation will force the children to confide in their peers who may not offer them good advice”.

He advised parents against abusing their children, stressing that parents had every right to discipline their children but they should ensure that any such disciplinary action did not cause any harm to the children, physically or emotionally.

Again, he cautioned parents against favouring some of their children against the others, since such a move would create unhealthy rivalry among the children. The Breman Cluster Partnership Facilitator of Compassion International Ghana, Mr Enoch Kyei Baffour, stated that child protection was very important in the upbringing of every child and urged parents to effectively monitor their children, stressing that the Constitution enjoined parents to provide proper care and support for their children to protect them from abuse.

The Breman Cluster Child Protection Chairman, Mr Takyi Banson, noted that a survey had been conducted which revealed that most of the children under the project were being abused, particularly at home by their parents.

He indicated that the forum was, therefore, held to educate parents on the need for them to provide the best of care for their children.