African Women Adventists campaign to end societal violence

Kumasi, Aug. 06, GNA - Women Adventists in the West and Central African Division of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church, have made a strong case for the society to rise up and campaign to end violence in all its forms.

They argued that a society dominated by violence could not achieve any meaningful development and growth in the absence of peace and stability.

“We have to keep talking to end it now,” Ms. Heather-Dawn Small, General Conference Director of the SDA Church, told congregants at the closing session of a congress of the West and Central African Division of the Church in Kumasi.

“Rape, forced marriage, abuse of the elderly and child, domestic violence and institutional abuse, are very common in our societies. That is a big problem!”

Ms. Small pointed out that creating the needed awareness about violence was a necessity since it helped the society to be aware of its consequences for the right remedies to be applied.

According to the United Nations (UN), approximately 15 million adolescent girls (aged 15-19) worldwide have experienced forced sex at some point in their lives.

Additionally, it is estimated that there are 650 million women and girls in the world today who were married before age 18, and also, adult women account for 51 per cent of all human trafficking victims detected globally.  

Speaking on the theme: “End it now - Adventists Say No to Violence”, the General Conference Director said a considerable number of victims of violence had suffered irreparable physical and psychological damages.

The society, she said, owed it a duty to always work to protect the vulnerable and weak in order to make the world a safer place for all to live in.

The congress which started from July 29 ending August 4, was organized under the auspices of the Women’s Ministry Department of the SDA Church and brought together women Adventists from 22 countries in the West-Central African Division of the Church.

Prior to the closing session, the participants staged a procession through the principal streets of Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest and oldest city, holding placards with inscriptions that sought to end violence in the society.

Led by the SDA General Conference Director, the women Adventists later presented a petition to Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, which had about 4, 000 signatories.

The petition, received by Ms. Deborah Asamoah Antwi, Programmes Officer of the Department of Gender, is calling on the government to prioritize issues relating to the campaign to ending violence in all its forms.

Mrs. Omobonike Adeola Sessou, West-Central African Division Director in-charge of SDA Women’s Ministry, said the Church as part of the programme, reached out to various health facilities in Kumasi, donating beds, chairs and Christian literature.

They also planted trees in order to keep the environment clean and green.

GNA

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