Accra, Jan. 13, GNA - Members of the National Coalition on Domestic Violence Legislation, on Tuesday dispelled claims that there was a specific section in the Bill that addressed marital rape.

They said, on the contrary, the Bill rather made provision for protection from sexual abuse and repealed section 42(g) of the Criminal Code of 1960 (Act 29) which justified the use of force within marriage. The reaction was to dispel fears on specific areas, which tended to negate the importance of the Bill in its entirety and has delayed its passage.

Briefing the media in Accra, Dr Nortey Dua, Clinical Psychologist at the Psychology Department of the University of Ghana Medical School and also a Coalition Member, said people have raised concerns in areas like the domestic violence emanating from other Western Cultures and marital rape as against African tradition, hence, seeing it as dangerous to the country.

Other areas of concern were that many people saw the prosecution; conviction and sentencing of husbands of marital rape would destroy the sanctity of marriage.

They argue that the effect of domestic violence on the family could not be dealt with solely by the legislation and the portion on marital rape would see more women rushing to the Police stations to seek prosecution of their husbands, which might break marriages.

He said the experience in 26 countries that have laws to prosecute marital rape was very different to this image and that the coalition was very confident that the judicial process would effectively weed out frivolous cases.

Dr Dua noted that the image of 'rushing to Police stations' suggested an impulsive action but it was clear from the experiences in countries where such a law had been used such women did so after carefully considering all the options to seek the protection of the law. He said the Bill which was before the Attorney's General's Department, had been approved by Cabinet in principle and was currently in the public domain and urged all to avail themselves of accurate information in order to contribute effectively and meaningfully to the debates and discussions on the Bill.

He said minor distortions and misunderstandings were retarding the passage of the Bill and called on the Executive, Legislature, civil society and Media to help facilitate and accelerate the passage of the Domestic Violence Bill.

The Coalition members, who are mainly women lawyers and women activists, said the law was not against men but rather against perpetrators.