Persons with Disabilities (PWDS) have called on the government and stakeholders to develop responsive policies to create an integrated society with equal opportunities for all vulnerable persons.

Mr Albert Acquah, Youth Leader of PWDs in the Assin South District, said persons with disabilities were neglected and denied support in the public sector, which should rather empower them to live dignified lives.

He made the call at a day’s capacity building workshop organized by the National Youth Authority (NYA), in collaboration with Central Regional Coordinating Council (CRCC), with funds from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The workshop brought together 60 disability youth group leaders in six districts to deliberate on gender equality and sexual and gender-based violence in the Region.

Mr Acquah appealed to the public to accept, treat and embrace persons with disabilities and to stop stigmatizing them.

Mr Emmanuel Ofosu Anim, Regional Director of NYA, said the workshop was aimed at collaborating with the youth groups and other stakeholders to foster equal access to opportunities regardless of one’s status.

He said many of the participants were ignorant of their sexual rights and where to seek help and urged them to be bold and report anyone who violated their rights to the police or the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU).

Detective Sergeant Richard Twum, a representative of DOVVSU, underscored the importance of knowing their rights due to the rampant discrimination PWDs encounter.

On gender equality, Ms. Samatha Korli, Assistant Programmes Officer of the Department of Gender, noted that gender-based issues were not women’s problems, but societal concerns, which must be addressed by all.

The Assistant Programmes Officer refuted claims that gender roles were natural, inevitable, and not dynamic.

“Gender equality should not be a war between sexes, feminism, or a struggle but, it should be both a right and a precondition of an indicator for good measure,” she added.

She enumerated some factors militating against gender equality in homes, societies, and nations to include culture, ethnicity, politics, religion, inferiority complex, education and norms and urged all to help eliminate them.

She said when gender roles were entrenched, it led to gender inequality, gender-based violence, and unequal treatment by the law, differences in access to education, and a host of many others.

Mr David Allan Paintsil, the CRCC Focal Person, encouraged PWDs to think differently and push harder for their rights when society tried to reject them.