Set up 'Sex Audit Committees' to probe sex scandals in SHSs – Lawyer Ampaw

In an attempt to find solutions to the rampant reports of sexual harassment on female students by their teachers in Ghanaian senior high schools, Lawyer Maurice Ampaw is advocating for the establishment of a sex audit committee in schools.

He believes the move will afford victims of sexual abuse the opportunity to lodge their complaint to the committee for full investigations to be carried out, and subsequently punish culprits.

The Legal practitioner’s call comes in the wake of the Ashanti Regional Education Directorate interdicting two teachers for allegedly raping two female students.

Douglas Adade of Saint Louis Senior High School, an English teacher, and Mathew Asante-Darko of Kumasi Girls, a Visual Arts teacher, are due to appear before the Ghana Education Service (GES) Disciplinary Committee.

They both have been cited for committing the alleged crimes on their respective campuses.

Speaking to sit-in host Akwasi Nsiah on Anopa Kasapa on Kasapa Fm, Mr. Ampaw noted that young ladies who suffer such abuse sometimes feel embarrassed and threaten not to speak up, hence the call for the establishment of a sex audit committee.

“I think my advocacy is to have a sex audit committee that will be an external committee because we don’t trust the internal people. If you should put a teacher on such a committee to probe such issues there’ll be bias. So we must have sex auditors who will go round the schools to audit claims of sexual harassment” he said.

According to him, the establishment of the committee will go a long way in resolving the growing concern and fear of parents whose daughters could be harmed by their teachers and that the committee must be set up in all levels of education.

“The committee must be set up in the various levels of education. One for tertiary, one for SHSs and the primary schools because the level of sexual violence, abuse, sexual intimidation, harassment among teacher is unfortunate” he noted.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ampaw has blamed the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) for not taking steps in addressing the issues with its members.