Violence against women and girls are rife in the country, report from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVSSU) of the Ghana Police reveals.

Available statistics from the Unit indicates that the country recorded 17,778 cases of various forms of violence in 2014, with assault on women being the highest of recorded cases reaching a total of 4,415.

Mrs Petra deGraft-Johnson, the Programme Manager of the Ending Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Project of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, made this known at a men’s dialogue meeting at Nsawkaw in the Tain District of Brong-Ahafo on Wednesday.

The meeting created a platform for men to discuss the causes and negative effects of sexual and gender-based violence on both women and men.

It was organized by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection with support from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

Mrs deGraft-Johnson indicated that the country also recorded 335 cases of rape and 1,296 cases of defilement in 2014.

She said a study conducted by the Gender Studies and Human Rights Documentation Center, a non-governmental organization revealed that one out of three women had been physically assaulted by a partner.

The study shows that 27 percent of women have been sexually assaulted in their life time and one in three women has been fondled or touched against her will, she added.

Mrs deGraft-Johnson observed that gender-based violence is often viewed as a women’s issue, yet entrenched ideas about masculinity played a major role in the problem.

She emphasized that intensified public education was required to deconstruct the negative patriarchal mind-sets that existed among some men which perpetuate violence against women and girls.

Mr Bright Asare, Personnel at the Brong-Ahafo Regional Headquarters of the DOVVSU, said incest and defilement continue to record high figures in the Region.

Though, Mr Asare could not readily support his claim with statistics, he appealed to the general public to support the Unit to control the situation by providing it with information.