The Executive Director of Alliance of Feminist Civil Society Organisations (AFCSOs), Alimatu Issahak, has called on stakeholders to take a stance against gender-based violence.

She was speaking at a national forum on gender-based violence held at the University of Professional Studies – Accra as part of activities to mark the United Nations' 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign.

According to her, the campaign was a grand opportunity for stakeholders to condemn gender-based violence as well as propose solutions to end gender-based violence in communities across Ghana.

“The entire period between November 25 to December 10 has been set aside to highlight various forms of gender-based violence within our communities. So it is an opportunity for every actor to take a position against gender-based violence and condemn such troubling acts, as well as propose various innovative ideas to end gender-based violence, specifically against men and women,” she said.

Also at the event was the Head of the Child Marriage Unit at the Gender Ministry, Saphia Tamimu who noted that the canker of gender-based violence was very much rampant in Ghana as it is across the continent and the globe.

She said there was an urgent need to address this prevalence by censuring socio-cultural norms that justified gender-based violence and ensuring the protection of vulnerable groups in societies particularly women, children, the aged and the disabled.

The global theme of this year’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, which runs from 25 November to 10 December 2023, is “UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls”