FIDA-Ghana holds workshop on human rights

at Asesewa

Asesewa (ER), Aug. 21, GNA - FIDA- Ghana, a non-governmental organization (NGO), on Thursday held a workshop at Asesewa to create awareness of the existence of the human rights law in the country, its contents and implications.

It was also aimed at empowering disadvantaged women with the necessary knowledge and information on their rights as well as the legal tools to enable them defend those rights. The participants mostly women were educated on topics such as the Intestate Succession Law, Domestic Violence Law and the three different types of marriages in the country. Mrs Chris Dadzie, Past President of FIDA, expressed concern about situations where defilement cases are settled at home and the perpetrators asked to pay paltry sum of money and allowed to go free of charge.

She said that in most cases those victims were not allowed to go to hospital for examination, a situation which could result in their inability to have children in the future.

Mrs Dadzie was not happy about reported cases of men assaulting their wives on the least provocation, saying, "A house where there should be peace is rather turning into a boxing ring". She advised women to report such assault cases to the appropriate quarters for redress, adding that, it was about time men did away with the erroneous impression that it was their right to beat their wives. Mrs Dadzie appealed to the police to treat those assault cases as an offence anytime it was reported to them and not to turn the victims away.

She also educated the participants on the HIV/AIDS pandemic and urged all to guard against leading promiscuous lives. Mrs Afua Addotey, Vice-President, FIDA-Ghana, mentioned the types of marriages in the country as the Ordinance, Customary and Moslem. She advised marriage couples to register their marriages to avoid any confusion on the death of a partner. Mrs Addotey also advised parents to ensure that their daughters were properly married before allowing them to go and stay with a man.