Parents asked to educate their children on sexual abuse

Mrs Joy Anima Danquah, official of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), has appealed to parents to educate their children, particularly girls, on what constitute sexual abuse.

He said this would enable children to report to the police cases of sexual abuse.

Mrs Danquah made the call at a sensitization seminar for traders and market women on their basic rights and responsibilities to their children, in Accra on Wednesday.

She said some people took advantage of the liberal cultural norms of the country and sexually abused women and children.

Mrs Danquah noted that child sexual abuse partly occurred through the exploitation of children’s ignorance, trust and obedience for adults.

The CHRAJ official called for the protection of the rights of children and provision of the welfare such as education, health, food, clothing and shelter towards their development.

Nana Oye Lithur, a human rights activist, working with the Human Rights Advocacy Centre, said the Intestate Succession Law has helped to reduce the hardship spouses of deceased persons, particularly widows and children, faced when their fathers failed to write a Will.

She said the law had been effectively applied by the courts to protect women and children, and had also helped to facilitate and address the fractional distribution of the estate of deceased persons.

Touching on the Domestic Violence Act, 2007, Nana Lithur reminded women that a victim of domestic violence, assisted by the police to obtain medical treatment, was entitled to free medical care from the state, and asked such victims not to pay money to any government hospitals or clinics.