By Nicholas Osei-Wusu
The Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, CHRAJ, says the cost of legal services should not discourage any victim of domestic or gender-based violence from making a formal complaint against their perpetrators.
According to the Commission, it is ready to provide any victim of such situations legal services either directly from its own lawyers or seek the assistance of the Legal Aid Commission or the Ghana Bar Association to find justice for the victims.
The Commission has therefore urged anybody who suffers domestic or gender-based violence to report their ordeals for the law to exact justice.
The Ashanti Sub-Regional Director of CHRAJ, Samuel Asante-Yeboah, gave the assurance at Obuasi during a Symposium to kick-start this year’s 16-Day Gender-Based Violence Activism.
The Annual 16-Day Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is a global awareness campaign against the social problem of violence against individuals based on one’s gender.
The 16-Day campaign in the Obuasi Municipality was organized and funded by AngloGold Ashanti.
The campaign started with a symposium that brought together members of religious groups, female traditional leaders from the Adansi Traditional area, identifiable women groups, school children among others who used placards to send out clear messages against gender-based violence in society.
A woman, Priscila Amponsah, shared with the participants her experience that led to the collapse of her first marriage.
“We were living with his mother and siblings in their family house. It got to a time my husband gave my house-keeping allowance to the mother before I could access it for meals preparation. And when I was done with the cooking, it was the mother whose duty it was to share it, I was forbidding from sharing the food”, she narrated.
There was a Panel Discussion involving experts in the subject matter during which the participants had the opportunity to ask questions or seek clarification on some issues.
The Ashanti Sub-Regional Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, CHRAJ, Samuel Asante-Yeboah, said the Commission takes a strong view of any form of violence based on gender, including sexual harassment whether at the work place, home or in any other public place and encouraged victims of such abuses to formally complain to the Commission without allowing financial difficulties hinder them.
He assured “when the case is reported to us, the complainants don’t have to worry about cost of legal services. Even if we don’t have the lawyers, we fall on the Legal Aid to provide pro bono services. We can also fall on the Ghana Bar Association for pro bono legal services. It is incumbent of every lawyer to provide free legal services every year.”
The Social and Gender Superintendent of AngloGold Ashanti, Nana Yaa Kyei, explained that, it is the strong stance of the Mine against any form of gender-based violence, especially sexual harassment, that motivates AngloGold Ashanti to create high public awareness against the practices among people within its catchment communities every year with the aim of stumping the problem from the society.
“Not only does AngloGold Ashanti seek to create a safe environment for its employees, but the Mine is also aware of its duty towards communities in which we operate. According to research, poor socio-economic circumstances can be a contributory factory in gender-based violence. Therefore, at AngloGold Ashanti, our community investment commitment programmes support the empowerment of wen and girls”, Nana Yaa Kyei noted.
The event was on the theme: “Unite, Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls.”
