Sexual abuse -33% of kids are victims

About 33% of children in Ghana are said to have been sexually abused. The abuse includes rape, molestation, touching of private parts, watching pornography, the use of inappropriate language, and dirty jokes.

The victims comprise both boys and girls of various age groups.

The media are replete with ridiculous, improbable and frightening stories about child molestations. But day-in day-out, these stories standout clearly to remind Ghanaians of the dangers sex offenders are posing to the society.

George Baiden, Director of African Movement for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (AMPCAN), who disclosed this to Weekend Finder, said the findings were the outcome of a research conducted by a number of child-based organisations.

Two of such research, one in 1998 and the other in 1999 (Boakye, 2005), have shown that the prevalence of sexual abuse in Ghana is somewhere between 7 and 33%.

AMPCAN is presently doing a comprehensive study on the situation.

A report on sexual abuse among children in the country conducted by the non-governmental organisation Plan Ghana revealed that out of 100 cases involving children who had been molested or abused, 53 cases actually occurred at school.

The other 43 took place at home. A number of basic and senior high school students interviewed for the report also alleged that they felt safer at home than at school.

“Boys are abused as much as girls by people very close to them,” Mr Baiden emphasised, adding that, alarmingly, the abuse is often committed by someone that is known to the child, including parents, spouses or partners, other family members, caretakers, teachers, employers, law enforcement authorities, state and non-state actors, and other children, as well as priests and imams.

Mr Baiden said the perpetrators often abuse the children under the pretext of grooming them to become responsible adults, adding that most often the children do not complain or report for fear of being chastised by their parents.

In some instances, the said perpetrators begin by showing kindness to the victims, such as providing them with gifts, and when they get comfortable with them, they then take advantage of the cordial relationship and abuse the children.

He called for concerted efforts by stakeholders to fight the growing menace of child abuse, adding that if the phenomenon is not checked, the future of promising boys and girls would be jeopardised.

Mr Baiden admonished parents and guardians to educate children on their various body parts, including private parts, and encourage them to speak out whenever they are sexually abused.

He also charged parents and guardians to discuss child abuse issues and to team up with relevant bodies to fight the canker.

He stressed on the need to improve parent-child communication in the country.

Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, ASP Irene Oppong confirmed that child sexual abuse is on the rise.

She said statistics available to the unit indicate a sharp rise in reported cases for 2013.

“Comparing last year to the first three-quarters of 2012, it shows an increase in defilement cases, and the Greater Accra Region tops the list.

“About 95% of the perpetrators are known to the victims, meaning that there is some sort of relation,” she said.

ASP Oppong, however, says the highest number of acts of sexual abuse recorded in the Greater Accra Region occurs between family members.

She said although her outfit is fighting to reduce the rate, the attitudes of witnesses affect prosecutions in court.

According to her, most complainants and victims “fail to appear” before the court to testify against the offenders of these cases, thereby “making it difficult for the prosecutor to prosecute the offender,” and impeding the efforts of the police officer handling the case.

Worldwide, child sexual abuse is one of the most common forms of violence against children (Boakye Kofi, 2005; Child Helpline International, 2012). Two studies in 1998 and 1999 (Pappoe & Ardayfio-Schandorf and Coker-Appiah and Cusack in: Boakye Kofi, 2005) have shown that the prevalence of sexual abuse in Ghana is somewhere between 7 and 33% for children between the ages of 13 and 18, depending on the type of abuse.

For example, 33% of the participants reported being touched on their private parts and 18% confirmed that their first sexual experience was by force. A research of Plan Ghana about sexual abuse in schools in 2009 showed that 14% of the school children between 10 and 17 years have been sexually abused in school, of which girls (55%) were more vulnerable to sexual abuse than boys (45%) (Plan Ghana, 2009).

Besides, research has shown that 31.8% of the children participating in the study knew of cases of sexual abuse in their schools (African Liberty, 2012); 52.7% indicated that the action taken by the school authorities in case of sexual abuse was far from being satisfactory.

Studies have shown that in the majority of the cases of child sexual abuse, the victim knew the offender (For example, 78% in Pappoe and Ardayfio-Schandorf, 1998 in: Boakye Kofi, 2005; Child Helpline International, 2012).

Acquaintances (friends of the family and neighbours) constitute the majority of this known group (54%), and relatives, including parents, uncles and cousins, formed the second-largest offender group (15%). Besides, of those who reported to be sexually abused, only one-third disclosed their experience to a third party. This third party was in most cases a parent or friend (Boakye Kofi, 2005).

The research of Plan Ghana showed the same results (2009) and showed that of the 30% of the victims that report the abuse to a third person, only 2% goes to the police.

Official police statistics in Ghana from DOVVSU (Domestic Violence and Victims Support) show a downward trend in child sexual abuse between 2002 and 2005 (from 820 to 670) (Boakye Kofi, 2005). However, based on police reports, it is difficult to determine if there is an actual decrease in child sexual abuse or a decreased willingness among victims to report the abuse.

Besides, police reports show only the tip of the iceberg, since sexual abuse is generally underreported and most child sexual abuse cases never come to the attention of government authorities, because of fear, stigma and lack of trust in authorities (Unicef, 2011; UN Secretary General’s study, 2006).

The above-discussed research from Plan Ghana also showed that victims of sexual abuse rarely report the abuse to the police. This suggests that the percentages given by the Ghanaian authorities highly underestimate the real situation.

So, however intriguing, the numbers available about the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Ghana are limited and most statistics are dated. Besides, official statistics often do not show the actual situation and underestimate reality.

Even though it is hard to draw conclusions about the prevalence of child sexual abuse in Ghana, it can be stated that child sexual abuse is prevalent in the Ghanaian society.

In the next section, a research will be discussed that studied the factors that influence the way child sexual abuse is being handled in the Ghanaian society, specifically how this influences the nondisclosure and underreporting of Ghanaian children in the case of sexual abuse.

Cultural factors related to the nondisclosure of child sexual abuse in Ghana In his article, Boakye Kofi studies the cultural factors that are related to the nondisclosure and underreporting of sexual abuse.

The factor that he explores thoroughly and he believes to influence the underreporting and nondisclosure in Ghana is the concept of collective shame: “This concept of collective shame may be defined as the tendency for individuals belonging to a particular group (family, clan, or lineage) to feel or express a strong sense of embarrassment following an undesirable attitude or behaviour by a member of the group, particularly those that are considered potentially damaging or threatening to the reputation of the group.”

With a survey in Accra among police officers, undergraduate psychology students, senior high school students, and street vendors, Boakye Kofi showed that they believed disclosure of child sexual abuse involving a family member or relative is likely to bring shame to the entire family. He states that this collective shame on child sexual abuse, especially within the family, is related to the underreporting and nondisclosure of sexual abuse.

This corresponds with the research done by Plan Ghana about sexual abuse in schools: 60% of the victims does not tell a third person about the abuse because they feel they can handle it, consider it to be normal and are afraid of being stigmatised (2005).

Besides, his study showed that the participants had several myths about child sexual abuse, such as ‘men can’t control their sexual desires,’ which also influences the underreporting and nondisclosure of sexual abuse.

Boakye Kofi states that children are socialised to accept this as part of men and therefore they don’t understand or are unable to appropriately interpret the abuse perpetrated against them. For example, they might believe it is normal. This results in that they are unable to disclose their sexual abuse.

One of the main conclusions of Boakye Kofi from his findings, which was also recommended in the research from Plan Ghana (2009), is the importance of educating children about sexual abuse. With education, children learn from a young age that it is, for example, not their fault when they are sexually abused and that it is not normal, which hopefully in the end results in less collective shame and more willingness to disclose and report the sexual abuse.