POLICE STRENGTHENS UNIT TO CHECK DOMESTIC VIOLENCE (PAGE 22)

THE Police Administration has set in motion a programme to strengthen the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) throughout the country to address the problem of domestic violence.
Violence against women and children has been a worldwide problem over the years. Even though the problem has existed in many communities for a long time, it was only in the early 1990's that it featured prominently in human rights discourse, particularly at the world conference on Human Rights held in 1992.
Since then measures have been put in place at the international, national, regional and local levels in an attempt to address the problem.
At a three-day conference for police personnel of DOVVSU, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) at the National Secretariat of the DOVVSU, Haleema Afa Boakye, said the unit had set aside this month for an advocacy programme in the Central Region to create awareness in both gender and domestic violence.
ASP Boakye said the United Nations Fund for Population Activities and the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana had been contributing towards the training and provided logistic support for DOVVSU.
The Central Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mrs Rose Bio Atenga, said it had been realised that issues of domestic violence needed to be treated with professionalism, expertise and understanding.
She said there was also the need to be mindful of physical abuse and its social, mental and psychological dimensions.
Mrs Atenga said service providers had to sympathise with victims to understand such issues.
In Ghana, the Women and Juvenile Unit (WAG) was established in 1998 through the collaboration of some non-governmental organisations, pressure groups and the then Ghana National Commission on Children, to oversee the challenges facing women and children.
The unit was re-christened the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit in 2006 to address the concerns of men, who earlier held uninformed perception of the unit’s operations.
Today, the unit has established offices in all the Regional Police Headquarters, as well as in the districts.
In the Central Region, the unit was established in 2002 and currently has opened offices in all the working districts.
Mrs Atenga said as a specialised unit, there was the need for regular courses for its personnel to enhance their performance.
She said the unit faced a lot of challenges because more cases were reported as a result of domestic conflicts between men and their wives.
The regional commander said most of such cases were as a result of men seeking to take additional women for wives because of bumper fish catch and bumper crop harvest.
The course was designed to equip the participants with investigative skills and broaden their counselling abilities to enhance their performance.
The participants were taken through topics such as the legal framework for survivors of abuse, domestic violence and gender-based violence, counselling for survivors of abuse and professional investigations.
Mrs Atenga said the unit had achieved many successes and overcome challenges, which won it a national award.
She stated that the course had also been designed to help them to confront the challenges they faced.
The regional commander expressed the hope that the knowledge they would acquire during the workshop would enhance their work.
The Central Regional Co-ordinator of DOVVSU, ASP Felicia Ayesu, urged the participants to take advantage of the workshop to upgrade their knowledge and skills to ensure the effective and efficient discharge of their duties.