Some adolescent female students in the Assin South District have mentioned sexual harassment from some unscrupulous male teachers who demanded sexual relationships with them as a troubling factor that needs national attention.
They indicated that when such requests were declined, teachers resorted to unnecessary severe punishments, hatred, and vilification thereby creating an unfriendly atmosphere that affected their studies and ultimately led to their failure in examinations.
At a national durbar held at Andoe in the Assin South District to commemorate 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, the girls narrated their ordeal and appealed to the Gender Minister, Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba to help bring such teachers to book.
The durbar which climaxed a 16-day long campaign against Sexual and Gender Based Violence was sponsored by Plan International, World Vision, Department for International Development and UN Gender Team and attracted chiefs, queen mothers, students, girls groups and the public.
They called for stiffer punishment for such teachers who unduly took advantage of such vulnerable young girls as sex objects to satisfy their sexual libido.
However, some boys who spoke on the sidelines of the programme denied any such sexual advances from female teachers but corroborated sexual harassment from some male teachers on female students.
They also called on parents to endeavour to provide the needs of their children to prevent some of the girls from falling prey to such social miscreants who pretended to support them as fathers in schools.
The Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MGCSP) used the platform to issue a stern warning to religious organizations and pastors who were parading innocent children as witches or wizards on their television stations to desist or face the full wrath of the law.
The sector Minister, Ms. Otiko Afisa Djaba who gave the warning said pronouncing and stigmatizing children as witches or wizards on television were clear infringements on their rights particularly the underaged.
“This kind of maltreatment affected the child’s emotional and psychological ability to interact and move freely in society without being called names” she noted, adding that the provisions of the law on child protection were unambiguously stated and must be respected by everybody.
According to her, every society, no matter its cultural, economic or social background, could and must stop violence and abuse against children, adding that the Constitution, Children’s Acts, and other Conventions, made all forms of physical violence, abuse or psychological torture against children illegal and a criminal offence.
Reverend Solomon Quaye, Founder and Leader of Transforming Lives Ministry, who expressed his displeasure with the practice, urged the Ministry to crack the whip on such pastors and television stations that were bent on subjecting such children to public ridicule.
He also called on traditional authorities and religious leaders to prioritize the needs of children and support in ensuring that their rights were protected to enable them grow to become responsible adults.
Earlier, scores of school children from the area took to the streets to raise awareness for all-inclusive efforts to help eliminate gender-based violence and abuses meted out to women.
Some placards they held read “stop violence against women and children, invest in women and girls, both boys and girls must go to school, both women and girls are partners in development” among others to create a free and safe environment for women and girls in the country.
www.primenewsghana.com/ Ghana news
