Addressing violence against women in Ghana

A story by Nana Oye Lithur - Graphic paper (17/6/08)

In 2003, a Ghanaian court adjudicated on a case, convicted, sentenced and repatriated an Indian national for defiling two Ghanian girls. It was discovered afterward that he was HIV positive.No protocols or guidelines had been adopted by the judiciary, Attorney General, Ghana Health service, or the department of social welfare to address emerging linkages between rapes, incest, defilement and HIV/AIDS at that time.

This Indian escaped serving his sentence at the Nsawam prison, the girls were through the defilement, exposed to the HIV virus.this sad case of the girls were taken up by gender advocates but no assistance was given to them by the Ghana health service.

There are no national standards under our criminal justice system on conducting routine HIV testing for convicted, and or accused rapist, basically due to the cost implications and a lack of coordination between the judicial service, Attorney General;s department and Ghana Health service.

Or is it a lack of commitment on their part? this leaves hundreds of girls who are defiled through condomless sex very vulnerable. In 2004 and 2005 defilement was the second case reported at the Domestic violence and victim support unit of the Ghana police service recording 734 and 713 cases were respectively.

On average therefore,roughly 700 girls in Ghana were forced in one year to have sex with men without condoms. this obviously places a lot of Ghanaian children at risk of HIV.