Tamale, Sept 5, GNA - The controversy over the Domestic Violence Bill is due to misunderstanding and misinterpretation of its contents because the bill seeks to protect the rights of both spouses and not the rights of women alone, says an official.

Mr Ahmed Abdullah, a facilitator at a one-day workshop on domestic violence, said this at the forum at Damongo on Saturday. The forum was organised by the Women's Wing of West Gonja District Civic Union, a civil society organisation representing the interest of women in the district, at Damongo on Saturday.

Participants at the workshop included representatives from the Ghana Police Service, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Department of Social Welfare.

Mr Abdullah stated that the Bill was one of the attempts by the government to provide protection against physical, emotional and psychological abuse of women and men.