The Aburi Presbyterian Old Women’s Association (APOWA) has expressed “profound heartbreak, utter dismay, and vehement condemnation regarding the harrowing incident of sexual abuse and exploitation of female students at the Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS).”
In a statement, the association noted that “as an institution dedicated to protecting the rights, dignity, and general welfare of young women, APOWA is deeply shattered that the very custodian entrusted to lead, guide, and protect these vulnerable learners allegedly became their tormentor.”
Schools, APOWA stated, must remain sacred sanctuaries for academic excellence, not hunting grounds for predators.
In light of this crisis, APOWA has urgently demanded transparency and immediate accountability from the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Ministry of Education, and law enforcement agencies.
The association has posed the following questions:
Have the victimised girls been taken through immediate, comprehensive medical examinations to test for, treat, and protect them from Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) that could pose a severe threat to their reproductive health and future?
Have investigative bodies critically analysed the horrific connotation of nineteen (19) innocent girls being systematically violated by a single individual? What was the underlying motive or driving force behind this devious act?
Have these students been placed under serious, professional psychological counseling sessions to stabilise their mental health, heal their trauma, and ensure their academic pursuits are not derailed?
Continuing, the association noted that “This year’s International Day of the Girl Child focused heavily on ending child marriage and aggressively investing in the rights of the girl child. Today, parents across Ghana are enduring extreme financial hardships to invest in their daughters’ education, expecting the state to keep them safe. It is an abomination that vulnerability is instead met with structural betrayal.”
APOWA has, in the statement, reminded all educational stakeholders that “the girls in our schools are your daughters, your nieces, and your cousins. Whatever act of sexual violation you would find abhorrent to commit against your own flesh and blood must never be inflicted upon another person’s child.”
APOWA also demanded of the GES to enforce its strict code of conduct and professional ethics without fear or favour. “We must build airtight institutional systems that safeguard the rights of all students—both girls and boys who may be suffering in silence.”
APOWA promised not to rest “until sanity is restored to our educational system, the perpetrators face the full rigour of the law, and our girls are fully supported to live upright lives as women of substance.”
A Daily Guide Report