Fathers Sleeping With Daughters On The Rise In Western Region, According To The Essential Services Committee And Sky Power FM

Members of the Essential Service Package Committee of the Western Regional Coordinating Council have expressed concern over the rise of fathers sleeping with their daughters in the region.

Girls as young as 9 or 10 years old have reportedly been sexually abused by a grandfather, a stepfather, or an uncle, resulting in incest cases among families in the Region.

At their second meeting under the Western Regional Coordinating Council's implementation of the United Nations Joint Global Programme on Essential Services for Women and Girls Subject to Violence, committee members voiced their concerns.

Mabel Araba Aikins, from the Office of the Attorney General and a member of the Committee, discussed a case of father-daughter abuse and advocated for increased collaboration and collaboration among committee members to reduce the number of incidents.

She was also dissatisfied with the fact that family members who should have served as key witnesses in the event of a trial never gave their complete support for effective proceedings.

She stated that the experience had also revealed the need for women prosecutors and police officers to manage a greater number of such abuse cases in order to elicit as much information from the victims as possible to aid in trials.

Mrs. Faustina Awortwe, the Western Regional Director of the Department of Children, observed that these fathers of sexually abused children were producing a large number of juvenile prostitutes in local communities..."Our work with children involved in prostitution has revealed that children who have already been exposed to these abuses prefer to engage in these activities for money outside of their homes."

Members of the Committee were also concerned about the lack of proper documentation by doctors who examined such victims of abuse, the cover-up games played by families, the gradual erosion of traditional and family values, and the need to return to certain cultural and social norms and values that prevented such social ills.

Ms. Setina Aboagye, the Western Regional Director of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service, emphasized the need for more male engagements on the need to uphold the reproductive and sexual rights of their female counterparts and to support them in discovering their growth potential.

She also advocated for the establishment of sanctuaries for abused women in need of care and protection.

Ms. Maribel Okine, the Western Regional Director of the Department of Gender, stated that the multidisciplinary committee would assure agency-wide advocacy for the protection of victims and survivors.

"We are solely here to facilitate discussions on the protection of victims and survivors from further harm, to conduct follow-ups on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence activities, and to ensure that victims are educated and empowered to prevent revictimization.