DOVVSU records 667 cases of sexual, gender violence
The Northern Regional branch of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, recorded 667 cases of sexual and gender-based violence in 2014, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Ken Yeboah, Northern Regional Police Commander, said.
He said 544 females and 132 males were victims of the cases.
DCOP Mr Yeboah, who said this at the opening of a three-day capacity building workshop on Domestic Violence and Gender-based Violence, organised by DOVVSU with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Tamale on Monday.
The workshop, being attended by police commanders and station officers from the Northern Region, was to equip the participants with enhanced knowledge to provide effective supervision on DOVVSU desk officers to ensure successful investigations and prosecution of cases of domestic violence and gender-based violence.
It was also to keep participants abreast of the Domestic Violence Act and Policies as well as issues of reproductive health rights and abuses of women and girls.
Mr Yeboah gave the breakdown of the cases to include 18 rape cases, 40 defilement cases, 250 assault cases, 120 non-maintenance of spouses and children cases, and 12 abduction cases.
The rest were 41 offensive conduct cases, 30 cases of theft, six infant abandonment cases, 85 threatening cases and three compulsory marriage cases.
Mr Yeboah said out of the cases, 56 were investigated and successfully prosecuted leading to 14 convictions, which included nine defilement cases, two assault cases and one each for criminal abortion, non-maintenance of spouse and children, and stealing.
He said the increasing cases showed that more members of the public were gaining confidence in interventions provided by DOVVSU in the region and assured of improvement on police protection needs of the public.
He encouraged members of the public, especially women who suffered domestic abuses, to file a complaint at any police station for redress since such acts boarded on criminality.
Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini, Deputy Northern Regional Minister, who read a speech on behalf of the Northern Regional Minister, emphasised the need for more action to prevent the abuse of girls and women in the domestic setting and assured that the government would continue to support the Police Service to deal with such cases.
Source: GNA