Wa, Feb. 6, Ghanadot/GNA – The Domestic Violence and
Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police
Service in the Upper West Region, recorded a sharp
increase in defilement and abduction cases last year.
Statistics made available to the Ghana News Agency at Wa
on Thursday showed that in 2007, 14 people were arrested
for defilement of minors, but this figure rose to 26
last year, while 36 abduction cases were reported to the
Unit in 2008 as against 15 in 2007.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Alex Amenyah, the
Regional Coordinator of the Unit, attributed the
increase, to the cases being reported as compared to
previous years, due to community sensitization
programmes undertaken with the support of Plan Ghana.
According to DSP Amenyah, another area of great worry in
the region has been the large number of complaints
regarding the inability or refusal of husbands to
provide for the upkeep of spouses and their children.
This type of cases shot up from 40 in 2007 to 65 in
2008, while rape cases saw a decline from seven cases in
2007 to four in 2008. The statistics showed that
domestic assault cases also jumped to 65 in 2008 from 40
in 2007.
DSP Amenyah however noted that figures on rape did not
give a true reflection on the normal trend on the ground
since most victims refuse to report such cases to the
police.
According to him, it has been observed that community
leaders often dissuade rape and defilement victims from
reporting to the police, knowing that the law courts
usually take a very serious view of such crimes.
He however stated that it would be in the interest of
victims and the society in general, if such cases are
reported for the appropriate legal measures to be taken
in order to minimize such crimes or rid the society of
them altogether.
GNA
