Some of us were actually moved upon hearing that the Domestic Violence Bill had finally been passed into law this year, after a long period of some heated debates. This attitude of Ghanaians really attests to the fact that we are now willing to put an end to our apathetic nature to enable us take active participation in our humble democratic process for our common benefit. One good thing about the Domestic Violence Act (D.V.A) is the various provisions that seek to address the concerns of the victims. A number of of our laws of a fact failed to provide adequate compensations to remedy any hardship that a person might have gone through as a result of the unlawful act by the perpetrators of certain offences.

Under the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732), a person in a previous or existing domestic relationship shall not engage in domestic violence. The prohibited acts include, but not limited to, an act under our criminal code which constitutes a threat or harm to a person in that Act; specific acts including threat to commit, or acts likely to result in physical abuse, sexual abuse, economic abuse, emotional, verbal or psychological abuse; harassment including sexual harassment and intimidation by adducing fear in another person; and behaviour or conduct that in any way harms or may harm another person,endagers the safety, health or the well-being of another person, undermines another person’s privacy, integrity or security, or detracts or is likely to detract from another person’s dignity and worth as a human being. It must be noted that a single act may amount to domestic violence.

Commendably, not only did the drafters and the proponents of this Act prescribe punishment for the offenders, but also numerous remedies have been enshrined in it to restore the victim to his previous position or at least, to assuage some of the suffering he\she is going through or might have endured.

The Court may in addition to imposing a fine or a prison term, order the offender in the case of domestic violence to pay compensation to the victim as the Court may determine.

A police officer shall respond to a request to by a person for assistance from domestic violence and shall offer protection that the circumstances of the case or the person who made the report requires, even when the person reporting is not the victim of the domestic violence. The police officer upon receipt of a complaint shall among others protect the victim to enable him\her retrieve personal belongings where applicable. Besides, he must inform the victim of his or her rights and any services which may be available. Also, the police must assist and advise the victim to preserve evidence. More importantly, the victim must be, where necessary, assisted to have free medical treatment from the state.

Admirably, Act 732 establishes Victims of Domestic Violence Support Fund. According to section 31 of the Act, the moneys in the Fund shall be applied

Ø towards the basic material support of victims of domestic violence,

Ø for training the families of victims of domestic violence,

Ø for any matter connected with the rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration of victims of domestic violence,

Ø towards the construction of the reception shelters for the victims of domestic violence in regions and districts, and

Ø for training and capacity building of the persons connected with the provision of shelter, rehabilitation and reintegration.

The inclusion of these provisions reaffirms the need for an establishment of a national fund to address the pertinent needs of all victims of crimes.

The Act has indeed set the pace for the need for us to seek the welfare of victims of misdeeds or crimes rather than always focusing all our attention on punishing the offenders only. Unfortunately, the D.V.A does not wholly concern itself with all crimes under our criminal code save those whose punishment are not more than 3 years and have been captured under it.

A critical look into the Criminal Justice System of Ghana will reveal that, more emphasis is placed on the perpetrators of crimes rather than the victim.

Justice requires that while punishing offenders of misdeeds for societal benefit, the victim must also be fairly treated as the circumstance of the case may so necessitate. As was aptly pointed out by one learned judge, Justice Oputa, Justice is not one -way traffic. It is not justice for the appellant only. Justice is even not a two-way traffic. It is really a three-way traffic-justice for the appellant accused of a heinous crime…, justice for the victim …, and finally, justice to the society at large

According to the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power (Adopted by General Assembly resolution 40/34 of 29 November, 1985), Victims means persons who individually or collectively, have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within member states, including those laws proscribing criminal abuse of power. It continues that, a person may be considered a victim, under the Declaration, regardless of whether the perpetrator is identified, apprehended, prosecuted or convicted and regardless of the familial relationship between the perpetrator and the victim. The term victim also includes where appropriate, the immediate family or dependants of the direct victim and persons who have suffered harm in intervening to assist victims in distress or to prevent victimization.

The said declaration requires member states to among others provide for crime victims;

v The right to be treated with dignity at all times.

v The right to respect for a victim’s privacy.

v The right to adequate support services.

v The right to be given information about the progress of the case

v The right to compensation.

v The right to be heard at appropriate times in the case.

v The right to information about the sentencing and release of offenders.

v The establishment, strengthening and expansion of national funds for compensation to victims should be encouraged. Where appropriate, other funds may also be established for this purpose, including in those cases where the state of which the victim is a national is not in a position to compensate the victim for the harm.

Before and after the above Declarations and others, several countries have made it as a policy to ensure the well-being of victims to make criminal justice system a whole. These states include England, New South Wales, North Ireland, Canada, the United States of America and South Africa which is till in the preparatory stage. Some of the above declarations have been wholly adopted and modified in accordance with critical consideration of their national aspirations.

Article 33(5) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana states that the rights, duties, declarations and guarantees relating to the fundamental human rights and freedoms specifically mentioned in its chapter 5 shall not be regarded as excluding others not specifically mentioned which are considered to be inherent in a democracy and intended to secure the freedom and dignity of man. If Ghana as a nation has incorporated this dutiful provision in her 1992 Constitution which per Article 1(2), shall be the supreme law of Ghana then, it is high time, Ghana as a nation adopted a national policy for the welfare of victims of crimes.

Obeng Mensah Richard,
Faculty of Law, KNUST
borncapy@yahoo.com;
Centre for Human Rights and Advanced Legal Research (CHRALER), Kumasi.

Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.