Kumasi, Nov. 3, GNA - The Domestic Violence and Victims' Support Unit (DOVVSU) is part of the Ghana Police Service and not a Non-Governmental Organisation where people sort out their private issues which were not criminal.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) George Appiah-Sakyi, who is the Ashanti Regional Co-ordinator of DOVVSU explained that DOVVSU has been mandated under the criminal code, Act 29 of 1960 to deal only with domestic crimes ranging from stealing from relations, causing harm to those one live with or relations, rape, defilement, incest, child neglect to other forms of sexual harassment. He said the unit which has been in existence for ten years had also received civil cases which were not to be handled by it, but referred such cases to the courts and cited them to include property sharing, inheritance cases and child custody.

ASP Appiah-Sakyi who stated these in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, he emphasised that people who reported cases to them were however not driven away, but preliminary investigations were done by inviting the parties involved before directing them to the appropriate quarters.

The Coordinator stressed that until October 28, 1998 when the Unit was under the name Women and Juvenile's Unit (WAJU), it served only women and children until it was changed to DOVVSU, an all embracing term to cater for all domestic violent cases involving all and sundry including men.

He was of the view that, reported cases were going up each year not only because domestic violence was increasing but due to the confidence the public has in the Unit, adding that even children report their parents who refuse to take care of them. ASP Appiah-Sakyi mentioned the dominant cases reported as neglect of parental duty, abduction, exposure of child to harm, assault, defilement, rape, stealing among others, saying not all cases were sent to court immediately.

In 2007, 1,911 cases were reported with 1,189 still under investigation, 652 were closed with 70 sent to court, 55 are still awaiting trial and 15 cases received convictions, according to a data collected by the Unit.

On the other hand from January to September 2008, 1,638 cases were reported, 1,056 are under investigations, 534 were closed, 47 sent to court, 27 are awaiting trial and one has been convicted. The Co-ordinator was happy that the Unit had been able to provide avenues where people get the chance to pour their hearts out to relieve them psychologically or emotionally, stabilize marriages and parents being put on their toes as far as child responsibilities were concerned. He added that the role of the Unit had helped in reducing domestic violence cases as well as educating the public through its outreach programmes on the achievements of the outfit. Some of its challenges, he stated were lack of logistics especially places to keep loitering children and the mentally retarded, and the inability for the personnel to establish the ages of victims when they are brought before them.