ActionAid calls for LI to operationalise Domestic Violence Act

Accra, Nov 29, GNA – ActionAid Ghana, a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), is advocating for the passage of a Legislative Instrument (LI) that will help to operationalise and effectively implement the country's Domestic Violence Act.

Mr Adolf Awuku Bekoe, the National Coordinator for Coalition on Domestic Violence Legislation in Ghana, who read a statement on behalf of ActionAid, said: “without the LI, there cannot be a full implementation of the Act, which then leads to frustration by the very people the Act is supposed to protect.”

He, therefore, called on the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs and the Attorney General's Department to work together for the urgent passage of the LI.

Mr Bekoe said this at a meeting to educate and commemorate 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence for students on the theme: “Down Memory Lane in the Fight against Domestic Violence in Ghana” in Accra on Tuesday.

“However, we are not oblivious of the fact that many laws in Ghana lack the instrumental framework to fully implement them because of the lack of finance and other resources,” he noted.

He was of the view that when the LI was passed, adequate financial resources as well as the needed infrastructure should be provided by government to ensure effective implementation of the Act.

Mr Bekoe expressed disappointment that the 2012 National budget did not make specific allocation for the provisions of this needed infrastructure as enshrined in the Act.

He commended various service providers, who were rendering different services to victims and urged them to do more even in the absence of the LI to ease the frustrations of victims.

Deputy Superintendent of Police, Freeman Tettey, Public Relations Officer of Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit, advised the students to report to the Police any form of domestic violence they encountered.

He commended the support of the media in fighting the menace of Domestic Violence in the society.

GNA