Report parents to Police on forced-marriage concerns, youth advised

Madam Theresa Adjei-Mensah, a Deputy Coordinating Director at the Sunyani Municipal Assembly, has called on young girls not to remain silent for their parents to force them into early marriages.

She said they must rather report such parents to the Police because such situations could cause the abrupt end of the education and also have an effect on their physical and psychological development.

Madam Adjei-Mensah said this at a Girls Camp organized by the Action Aid Ghana and sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) at Atebubu in the Atebubu-Amanten District of Brong-Ahafo Region.

The one-day programme was attended by 50 girls drawn from eight Junior High Schools (JHSs) in the District and it was aimed at educating them on the consequences of early and forced girl-child marriages.

It was also to encourage the participants to remain focused in life and concentrate on their education.

The participants had the chance to meet professionals of diverse backgrounds who shared their real-life experiences with them to serve as their role models and mentors.

Madam Adjei-Mensah said the step to report the parents by the affected girl-children should not imply that they were disrespecting or disobeying their parents since they also have the right to decide on what is good for them.

She said if they feared to go to the Police they must still not keep quiet but report the issue to their teachers and the girl-child coordinators in their schools.

Ms. Stephanie Adoko, a contestant in the 2016 Ghana’s Most Beautiful pageant, advised the children to work hard for their dreams.