John Nkaw
ActionAid Ghana has applauded the Ghana Police Service for taking swift actions to ensure the law is enforced.
According to ActionAid, following proceedings on the alleged sexual harassment case involving a police officer in Sunyani in the Bono Region, the Ghana Police Service ensured the law is enforced and the safety of Ghanaians, especially women, is protected.
In November this year, the Sunyani District Court B remanded a police officer into police custody for sexually harassing a woman in a car in a viral video.
His arrest followed the Police Service’s preliminary investigation into the video, in which he is seen continually touching the woman’s exposed thighs, saying “you’re naked,” despite her pleas for the former to stop.
In a statement issued by ActionAid Ghana on Monday, December 13, 2021, the organisation working to achieve social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication, emphasised that “as an organisation that has been working over the last 30 years to eliminate violence against women and protect women from sexual harassment and assault, we believe that this alleged breach of Sections 84 and 103 of the Criminal Offences Act 29, which deals with assault and indecent assault respectively, should be pursued with all seriousness and alacrity.
“We have analysed statistics from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service which indicates that as of August 2021, 31.9% of women have faced at least one form of domestic violence – physical, economic, psychological, social, or sexual. These statistics are alarming and are indicative of the worrying prevalence of violence against women in the country.”
John Nkaw, Acting Country Director said, “ActionAid Ghana is concerned about the increasing rate of violence, harassment and assault against women and girls. It is even more worrying that such incidences are sometimes perpetrated by officers who are mandated to protect people and indeed should be the vanguard of the ongoing campaign against sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence.”