Mrs Freda Prempeh, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tano North in Brong-Ahafo, has called for the passage of a legislative Instrument (L.I) that will protect and oblige boys to marry girls they impregnate.

She expressed regret that because there was no law, boys who impregnated their girlfriends abandoned them and continued their education.

“The saddest aspect of it is that those girls will go through hell, give birth and cater for their babies but when the boys responsible for the pregnancies grow to occupy responsible position, they abandon the girls”, she told the GNA in an interview.

The International Women Day, which falls on March 8 every year, was instituted by the United Nations.

This year’s celebration is on the theme “empowering women, empowering humanity; picture it”.

Mrs Prempeh expressed concern about the domestic violence and women right abuses in the country and said due to the absence of a L.I. to guide the issuing of medical forms and others prosecution processes on abuses, women are facing several setbacks.

She called on the Ministry for Gender, Children and Social Protection to speed up processes on the drafting of the L.I. so that perpetrators of gender violence would be brought to book.

“Some of us wish that by now the government would have brought the Affirmative Action Bill to Parliament so that funds such as the Women in Local Governance Fund can be established under the Bill”, Mrs Prempeh said.

“But all we keep hearing is the Bill is at the Attorney-General’s Department and at other times it will soon be presented to Cabinet and then Parliament. Assurances upon assurances and yet the Bill has not been presented to Parliament. It is difficult to fathom the cause of delays when it comes to legislating for women cause.”

She reiterated the country could not wait for the Affirmative Action Bill since policy directives on gender empowerment were not being adhered to, and reiterated the importance to compel the government to adopt certain measures such as “quota system for women representation in decision making”.

Mrs Prempeh stressed the need to strengthen social services systems and social welfare institutions such the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice to cater for victims and more importantly educate the public on the repercussions of violence against women.

She appealed to the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection to establish more Community-Based Action Teams in the country, particularly where the gender violence is more prevalent, to sensitize the communities and also provide support to victims of violence.