A scene at the function
Regional Director of the Commission on Human Right and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Abdulai Jaladeen, says inhabitants of some communities in the Upper East Region still stop women and girls from inheriting the properties of their parents.
According to him, all Ghanaians must accept the fact that female children also have the right to inherit the properties of the parents.
“There are family members who know better, but join others to deny girls and women their right to inherit the properties of their dead parents.
“The law does not discriminate on the basis of gender and so nobody has the right to discriminate in the sharing of properties of a deceased parent on the basis that the person is a girl or woman,” he noted.
Mr Jaladeen also revealed that everyone must join in the fight against outmoded and harmful cultural practices that are causing women and girls to lose their self confidence and respect in their communities.
“We hear people say that girls will marry and end up in another family. These people see women as belonging to the husband’s family…we must discourage this way of thinking. Both boys and girls have the right to be developed and cared for,” Mr Jaladeen explained.
He disclosed while speaking at a training programme organized for the Community journalists against Widowhood Injustice.”
They were drawn from Talensi, Nabdam Districts, as well as the Bolgatanga Municipality in the Upper East Region.
The programme was organized by the Widows and Orphans Movement as part of efforts to eliminate unfair practices against widows in the Upper East Region.
“In the Upper East Region some perpetrators also claim to create the platform for widows to establish their innocence, but these practices rather dehumanize the widows and endanger their lives and implicate them in the death of their husbands.
“Many widows have been driven out of their homes, others have been compelled to marry brothers of their husbands against their wishes. There have been cases where widows have been compelled to spend a night or two with bodies of their late husbands in one room. These are not good for a woman who is grieving…We all have the duty to help curb these practices.” Mr. Jaladeen stated.
A Project Officer with Widows and Orphans Movement, Patricia Ayichuru, said her outfit is training some selected community members to report dehumanizing practices against widows to the relevant authorities.
She called for effective collaboration between the law enforcement agencies and community journalists to stop harmful practices against women in communities.
From Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Tongo