Report domestic violence, it’s a crime - Ursula Owusu

To prevent another domestic violence oriented death in her constituency, Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma West, Mrs. Ursula Owusu Ekuful, has held a sensitization seminar for women in the constituency.

Couple of months ago, Ama Osaah, a market woman at the Dansoman market was beaten to death by her husband and it was revealed during her funeral that many of her colleagues were victims of violence in their homes, hence the seminar.

“So I decided that it would be good if we held a public sensitization seminar on domestic violence for all the market women and the general community”, the MP named the rationale behind the seminar.

She added that, the programme was to make them understand what domestic violence was, the signs to look out for and how to respond to abuse when it happens.

Again it was to equip the women with the knowledge of where to seek help, what to do to protect themselves and to live in harmony in their homes with their partners.

“So my main motivation was to prevent another death in this community”, she said that in reaction to the two time 5 year interval domestic violence deaths which have occurred at Dansoman.

Resource persons from the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Domestic Violence Commission who doubles as a clinical psychologist, Divisional Commander of Dansoman Police Station, officials from Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) as well as nurses from the Dansoman Community Clinic all educated the people on different aspect of the violence.

“We must end domestic Violence and it’s through knowledge sharing that we can work towards reducing this incidence”, Mrs. Ursula Ekuful underscored.

She counseled victims not to be reluctant to report issue to the appropriate officials when they are being abused because it was not normal for one to be abused.

She directed the advice towards outsiders to report spouses who abuse their partners including the men, saying the law is gender neutral, so men should overcome their shines and seek help if they are being subjected to abuse.

“Domestic Violence is a crime and there is help available for everyone to seek it before it’s too late”, she posited.