Bolgatanga, Feb. 01, GNA - Government has been urged to pay attentio= n to Domestic Violence Victims, especially women and children, who are most= ly affected. The National Coordinator of the Domestic Violence Coalition (DVC), M= r Adolf Awuku Bekoe made the appeal when the Coalition held a day's forum i= n Bolgatanga, Upper East Region, at the Weekend, to educate and sensitize t= he people in the region about the Domestic Violence Act, 732 of 2007.

The purpose of the forum was to empower people, especially victims o= f Domestic Violence on the Act, so as to empower them to access Justice whenever they FALL victims to such heinous acts. The National Coordinator of the DVC stressed the need for the Government to provide shelter in all the Regional Capitals for victims of Domestic violence and explained that the Domestic Violence Act 732 sub section 41e, clearly stipulates that domestic violence victims be provide= d with shelter in consultation with the relevant institutions. He therefore entreated Government to resource all the agencies worki= ng in the area of Domestic Violence to be able to fight against the menace, stressing that there was the need to fast track the Legislative Instrumen= t (LI) of the Domestic Violence Act 2007.

Mr Bekoe wondered why government was not paying greater attention to such a sensitive sector and said during the 2008 elections the National Democratic Congress (NDC) promised in their manifesto to pay much attenti= on to issues affecting women, adding that that promise has not been fulfille= d. Deputy Chief Medical Assistant of the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, Mr Samson Sapark said there were a lot of health hazard issues associated wi= th domestic violence and mentioned Female Genital Mutilation, rape, widowhoo= d rites among others, which could lead to fistula, genital diseases, HIV/AI= DS, Infertility psychological trauma.

He said medical professionals see this issue as very worrying and appealed to Government to ensure the strict enforcement of the Domestic Violence Act to liberalize victims of Domestic Violence. A Director at the Centre for Sustainable Development Initiatives (CENSUDI), Mrs Margaret-Mary Issaka, who facilitated the forum, urged victims of Domestic violence to study the act very well to become abreast with it, to enable them to fight their case when victimized. She told the participants not to hesitate to report domestic violenc= e related problems to the appropriate quarters for redress and said communities should not prevent Domestic violence victims from reporting t= o the appropriate agencies. Mrs Issaka entreated traditional authorities to play leading roles i= n their respective communities by ensuring that Domestic violence was expun= ged from their areas. As part of the occasion, school children in the area matched through the principal streets of the Municipality with placards, some of which re= ad, "Domestic Violence is a canker stop it, "Healthy Women means a healthy Nation", "Manage your anger to reduce violence" and "Children are the Fut= ure leaders do not abuse them", among others.

The Programme was to educate members of the Public on the Domestic Violence Act, 2007, which is a three-year programme, was sponsored by the Netherlands Embassy and being implemented by the Ministry of Women and Children in collaboration with DVC. The regions which have benefited from the programme so far include t= he Brong Ahafo, Volta, Upper West, Northern and Upper East Regions.