Zonta international, a global service organisation of executives and professionals working to improve the status of women has declared 16 days of activism for the world to say “No” to violence against women and girls.

The 16 days campaign which will begin on November 25 will end on December 10, 2013.  It is expected to raise awareness while increasing actions that would end violence against women and girls.  But how real is the issue and what is the grounding for a world-wide attention?    

When put into a certain context, yes, there is merit in the Zonta campaign.  While spousal violence, rape, and indecent assaults are abuses of a victim’s fundamental human rights, for children and for that matter girls, Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of a Child (1989) calls for legislative, administrative, social and educational actions to protect children from all forms of violence and abuse.

When I spoke to a Lawyer who is an active member of one of the Zonta Clubs in Ghana on the reality of the issue, she did not mince any words.  She explained that some women have lost their lives and many more have ended up in psychiatric care as a result of violence.   She gave me a catalogue of reported cases that have come to the notice of activists.   

A scan through some newspapers tells the story vividly.  There are stories of women who have been maimed by their estranged husbands and sometimes even hacked to death simply over domestic misunderstandings.  Shocking newspaper headlines such as “Man sets lover ablaze”, “man chops off wife’s head”, “Farmer butchers wife”, “Man throws acid on wife”, “Horror in Kyekyewere as man beheads 4 year old step-daughter”, “Man rapes step-daughter” simply have no justification in any society.

According to a study conducted by the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre, a third of women in Ghana admitted living with an abusive man.  The research confirmed that victims of violence come from all backgrounds.  While those in the lower class may go and report their abuse, women in the middle to upper classes prefer to suffer in the quiet.

In cases where the violence on women perpetrated by their spouses lead to dissolution of the marriages, such break ups have dire consequences on the children.    That, in reality is one of the reasons why a number of abused women may continue to stay in their abusive relationships.  They are committed to making the marriage work plus they would like to see their children grow up in a home with a fatherly figure around. 

The fact is due to the important role women play in the family and the emotional closeness the children often have with mothers, when the woman goes through severe forms of abuse, there is the likelihood that the children get disturbed as well.  So, the issues being raised by Zonta are real here in Ghana and this was collaborated by some statistics I found during a visit to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) headquarters in Accra last week.

The fact that Ghana in 1998 established the then Women and Juvenile Unit (WAJU), now DOVVSU, in conformity with international obligations at the time shows that the problem is of national concern.  The DOVVSU is empowered by the laws of the country to investigate all domestic violence related cases as well as cases of child abuse.  Their mandate also includes providing support for victims of abuse and arresting and prosecuting offenders and perpetrators.

With units in all the regions of Ghana, there are worrying statistics at DOVVSU confirming that since 2009, the number of children abused is increasing.  While the year 2009 recorded 7,101 cases of children abused, in 2012, 8,271 cases were recorded.  At the top of the list of abuses is non-maintenance or neglect.  Between 2010 and 2012, nearly 17,000 cases of non-maintenance were reported to DOVVSU followed by nearly 14,000 recorded assault cases.  Specific cases of physical abuse reported to DOVVSU included burns, cuts, missing teeth, head injuries, bruises and broken bones.

Abuse in whatever form generally have negative effect whether perpetrated on a child or a woman.  In the cases of spousal abuses, a number of the victims suffer psychological effects.  There are sometimes signs of low self esteem, lack of confidence in themselves, apathy, depression, anxiety, hostility and sometimes difficulty concentrating.

In children, the effects of abuse include problems in school, delinquency, teenage pregnancy, suicide attempts and some anti-social behaviours.  In all that, DOVVSU encourages women and children who suffer abuse to file a complaint with the police.  There are also a few advocacy centres that victims are encouraged to report their cases for assistance.

Women have remained the cohesive force in every family.  Any destabilisation in the woman tends to have effect on the family, particularly the children.  It is in the interest of society therefore to ensure that women do not suffer abusive and violent relationships.  That is where I agree with the Zonta campaign.

For the sanity of families, communities and society, it is time to join hands to say “No” to violence against women and girls, perhaps not for just 16 days but for everyday, everywhere, every time, all the times.