The Member of Parliament (MP) for Mpraeso in the Eastern Region has asked the Council of Europe to help get women to lead the Criminal Justice response to cybercrime.

Davis Opoku Ansah says women are mostly the target of online hence his call. 

According to him, women suffer greatly from these abuses which affects them in their entire lives.

Speaking on the “role of women in the criminal justice response to cybercrime” at a forum organised by the Council of Europe in Costa Rica on Friday, the legislator insisted on the imperativeness of his call. 

“Indeed, Online gender-based violence against women has been on the rise. This includes cyberstalking, cyberharassment, revenge porn, honeytraps, and doxing among others.

“To wit, 27% of cases reported to the Emergency Response Team of Ghana’s Cyber Security Centre related to the non-consensual publication of explicit images and online child abuse.

“Worse still, the social consequences victims face, coupled with the dominance of men within the Criminal Justice System, dissuades victimised women from reporting and thus distorts our knowledge of the real scope of the problem. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this suggests that it is imperative for women to be at the helm of the Criminal Justice response to cybercrime,” he urged.