Tamale, May 16, GNA- Life Rescue Mission (LRM), a non-governmental Organisation (NGO), that provides advocacy and education on women and children's rights will establish community based anti-violence teams in twenty communities in the country to train 50 Queen mothers on domestic violence issues.
The NGO will sensitise the Queen mothers and other stakeholder who uphold traditional practices that violate the rights of women and children and educate them on the need to abolish such practices. Mr. Daniel Borti, Executive Director of LRM, announced this in Tamale on Wednesday at the opening of a three-days workshop on: "Domestic human rights abuse: Using the female teachers as agents and guides".
The workshop, which was organised by LRM, is supported by the German Embassy and had in attendance female teachers from basic and second cycle schools in the Tamale Metropolis, the Savelugu/Nanton District and the Tolon/Kumbungu District. He said the NGO would assist in identifying victims of domestic violence abuse at the grassroots level for redress and also help check child labour and child trafficking. Mr. Borti said the NGO would establish permanent school-based human rights education clubs to educate school children on human rights issues.
He said under the project, 200 female teachers in the Northern Region would be trained to educate the children on human rights issues.
Mr. Borti said in recent years, about 11,964 cases of domestic violence had been reported to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the police, and last year the Unit handled a total of 842 for the first quarter of that year alone. He said reports in the media also indicated that women continued to be victims of domestic violence and most of the cases were not even reported.
Mr. Borti commended the Government for promulgating the Domestic Violence Bill into law but recommended that more political positions be given to women to bridge the gap between men and women in politics. Alhaji Mustapha Ali Idris, Northern Regional Minister, bemoaned the practice in some parts of the region where old women were accused of witchcraft and banished from their communities and sent to "Witch Camps".
He said, there were several traditional discriminatory practices that were injurious to the health and development of young girls and noted that female genital mutilation in particular was a serious problem in the Northern sector of the country. The Regional Minister appealed to traditional rulers to help abolish cultural practices that were inimical to the advancement of the rights of women and children. Alhaji Idris urged female teachers not to relent in their efforts to educate the girl-child on issues bordering on sexual violence and battering, excessive corporal punishment in schools, bullying and physical assaults, abduction and defilement. 16 May 07
