Body To Enforce Domestic Violence Act

A Domestic Violence Management Board has been established to see to coordinate the effective implementation of the Domestic Violence Act 2007.

Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, Hajia  Alima Mahama, who disclosed this said that the board would oversee the affairs of the secretariat for the coordination of the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act.

Hajia Mahama was speaking in Accra yesterday at an awards ceremony for organisations that were championing the fight against domestic violence. 

The awards ceremony was organised by Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) a Pan-African non-governmental, women's rights network.

The minister said members of the board had been trained on the National Plan of Action and policy for the implementation of the Act.

She said her ministry was in the process of signing the memorandum of understanding for Netherlands Support for the implementation of the Act.

She described the Act as a key example of collaboration to ensure that women and children fully enjoy their human rights, and her ministry would do everything to ensure its effective implementation.

Prof. Akosua Adomako Ampofo, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, said that violence against women and children are serious challenges as evidenced by the annual mobilisation of women globally around the theme: “sixteen days of activism against gender violence.”

She noted that the Domestic Violence legislation could provide reliefs such as access to medical care, provision of shelters and compensation for survivors of violence.