Community members have been urged to prioritise the health and rights of women and girls in their communities.

Mrs. Mercy Adomaa Besseah, Ashanti Regional Director of the National Population Council (NPC), who made the call said the rate at which women and girls were being abused in communities was worrying and there was the need for community leaders to step in to curb it.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency in Kumasi, she said women played an important role in society and there was the need for men to pay particular attention to their health and stop abusing them in their homes.

The interview was to create an opportunity for her to throw more light on the National Population Day celebration 2020, which was to have taken place on July 11, this year but was postponed due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

She said the post review of the Day, which was under the theme; “Safeguarding the health and rights of women and girls during the time of COVID 19 pandemic”, was important to highlight some of the human rights challenges facing women and girls in homes.

Additionally, there was the need to enlighten people to prioritize women's and girls' health and rights since they made important contributions to population growth.

Mrs. Besseah pointed out that women should be given the chance to make their own choices when it comes to their sexual and reproductive health.

She said it was not right for men to impose the number of children to be borne in a marriage on women without considering their health and safety status.

She said the reproductive health and sexual rights of women should be given the needed attention irrespective of the religion, age, ethnicity, or the economic situation of the woman.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mrs. Susuana Dery, Ashanti Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims' Support Unit, of the Ghana Police Service said domestic violence and abuse of women and girls, continued to rise every day in the Ghanaian society.

What makes the situation more worrying is the refusal of some witnesses of domestic violence to support DOVVSU with the needed information to pursue such cases to demand justice for victims.

Mrs. Dery said the fight to promote the rights and health of women needed the support of all to achieve the desired goal and called for all hands to be on deck.