Women Discuss Domestic Violence Bill

Nana Oye Lithur, Secretary to the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Women?s Lawyers (FIDA), said on Monday the only way to curb domestic violence was to enact a domestic violence law and not by education and counseling.

?Domestic violence in the Ghanaian society is fast spreading and even resulting in the deaths of some women?, she lamented.

Nana Lithur was addressing the opening of a one-day workshop on the Domestic Violence Bill organized by the FIDA for opinion leaders in the Ashanti Region.

About 41 opinion leaders made up of mainly queen mothers, health workers, social workers, the police and medical personnel attended the workshop sponsored by the United States (US) Embassy.

The workshop provided a platform for the participants to review sections of the Bill and make comments on it.

Nana Lithur said research showed that the prevalence of domestic violence was becoming very high ?with one in every three women in Ghana having experienced one form of domestic violence?.

?If the Bill is passed into law it will afford those who experience it as a workable legal remedy to address abuses within the domestic sphere?.

Nana Lithur said ?when passed into law Ghana would also have fulfilled its international commitments towards ending violence against women as stipulated in the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women?.

Very Reverend I. K. Twum, Ashanti Regional Manager of the Methodist Education Unit, appealed to participants at the workshop and all stakeholders to make positive contributions to the training of the domestic violence bill to make it more effective.