Inside the Orange Support Centre
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has officially opened a Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) support centre and launched the Boame App to provide assistance to survivors of sexual and domestic abuse.
The Orange Support Centre which is located at Osu in the Greater Accra Region, would leverage on the mobile app and toll-free line call centre technology to provide psychosocial, legal, medical and physical support system for SGBV survivors.
Director in-charge of the UN Systems Unit at the Ministry of Finance, Gladys Osabutey, who opened the center, praised the UNFPA for its determination in the fight for Zero SGBV.
She said although Ghana had made significant progress towards the elimination of SGBV, she still had a long way to go, and that the country remained at war with the crime.
Ms Osabutey was optimistic that with the opening of the facility, clients would be able to access fast and effective legal assistance, referrals to SGBV shelters and all other protective services without struggle.
UN Resident Coordinator in Ghana, Charlse Abani, thanked the development partners for their support throughout the stages of the project, and encouraged them to work together to achieve elimination of SGBV by 2030.
Director of Research Information Management at the Gender Ministry, Efua Ayanful, indicated that violent atrocities against women and especially girls affect the development agenda since those affected cannot dully contribute their quota to national development.
She, therefore, noted that with the support Centre now in place more priority will be placed on ending gender and domestic based violence.
In various solidarity messages, the Canadian and Australian High Commissions, and the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Ghana), said Domestic Violence (DV) was becoming an increasingly deadly weapon being used by men globally, to gain power and control over women and other vulnerable groups.
They also admitted that since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, global statistics of DV cases had soured, with young women and girls having to endure much aggression from their abusers, and said the Orange Support Centre, would now bridge the gap between survivors and the help they need.
They called for deepened collaboration among all stakeholders, to increase advocacy towards achieving gender equality at all levels, intensified education and information sharing on the existing legislation and available support services to survivors and victims of DV, while strengthening the justice system to be able to bring all perpetrators of these crimes to book.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri