Child prostitution soars in Dome-Kwabenya - Adwoa Sarfo

Member of Parliament (MP) for the Dome Kwabenya Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Sarah Adwoa Sarfo has revealed that child prostitution is rampant in Dome-Kwabenya.

According to her, ‘the practice has gotten out of hand and believed that something needs to be done to save the situation.

The Dome-Kwabenya lawmaker made this revelation on the floor of Parliament yesterday.

She lamented that, girls as young as 12 years in her constituency had taken to prostitution.

Ms Sarfo thus “wants parents of such children to be held responsible for failing to protect their children from engaging in hazardous work”.

“Mr. Speaker, child prostitution has become so rampant in my constituency. I sometimes wonder where the parents of these children are and what they have been doing. Mr. Speaker, I think parents should be held responsible for failing to protect their children”, she said.

The Dome-Kwabenya MP who also doubles as the Deputy Majority Leader and the Minister of State in Charge of Procurement, explained that the underage children had resigned themselves to fate to indulge themselves in the sex trade because they hadto fend for themselves since their parents and guardians had failed to live up to their responsibilities.

She therefore, suggested that government’s pro-poor policies be deliberately targeted towards the welfare of children in the society while she questioned what the nation was doing to reduce the inequality among marginalized children; children living with albinism; autism and HIV/AIDS among others.

Contributing to the statement, the Minority Chief Whip and MP for the Asawase Constituency in Ashanti Region, Alhaji Mohamed Muntaka Mubarak, urged that every effort be made to reduce poverty on the African continent especially in Ghana in order to eradicate the menace of child prostitution.

He also called for special attention to be given to the health needs of the children.