No Progress in Years’: Expert Slams Ghana’s Approach to Gender-Based Violence
Lawyer and Executive Director of the Ark Foundation Dr. Angela Dwamena Aboagye is very worried that Ghana is still not doing enough to stop gender-based violence. She says that the country’s response is weak and stuck. Speaking on the JoyNews AM Show on Tuesday, November 25, she stated that after many years of working in the sector, she has observed very little progress, noting that although gender-based violence appears in various forms across the country, the systems mandated to address it consistently fail to deliver. Dr. Aboagye said that a strong national response needs to be built on four main pillars: prevention, security, support, and punishment. He warned that if any of these “legs” is weak, the whole response falls apart. She made it clear that Ghana is falling short in all four areas. She said that poor public education and awareness-raising were two big problems with prevention, and that laws aren’t being enforced very well, even though the laws themselves are strong. According to her, the biggest challenge lies in the adoption of policies and the right application of laws meant to protect victims and hold offenders responsible. She stressed that these ongoing problems keep hurting national efforts and keep many victims from getting the help or punishment they need.
