Hundred men in Central Region schooled on sexual, gender-based violence

By Victoria Agyemang, GNA

Saltpond (C/R), Dec. 05, GNA - The Central Regional Department of Gender has organised an intensive capacity building and empowerment workshop on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) for 100 men in the Region.

Selected from six districts, the education was to embolden them to lead a fearless campaign to drastically reduce pervasive social issues of SGBV, especially against women and children.    

It was supported by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Canadian AID.

Mrs Thywill Eyra Kpe, the Regional Director of the Department of Gender, said sexual and gender-based violence had perpetuated in many communities because victims and perpetrators had not been empowered enough to deal with the issue resolutely.

She said education on the subject, therefore, was not targeted at breaking families but to train people while empowering victims to make informed decisions about what was happening to them.

She mentioned ignorance of the law, obnoxious cultures, customs and norms as key factors militating against combating the practice.

However, she was optimistic that the trainees would be good advocates of gender-based violence to help many victims overcome those issues in their communities.

Mr Theophilus Tetteh Tuwor, the Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, said such violence, among other harmful practices, had legal implications and encouraged participants to be advocates in their communities to curb it.

Mr Patrick Ati Arkoh, a participant, told the Ghana News Agency in an interview that some traditional norms and values were usually against efforts to fight SGBV, mostly suffered by women and girls, and called on the authorities to spread the education to the rural communities to stem the practice.

The training, he noted, had equipped participants to better understand issues of violence against women and expressed the hope that it would help to significantly reduce it in his community.

GNA

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