Violence:Child Abuse
A very close friend of mine was born in New York to a Ghanian father and Jamaican mother. When she was six years old, her family moved back to Ghana. She lived with her parents, an uncle and her older brother. A few months after moving to Ghana, she noticed her uncle was very friendly towards her. He always bought her things and would always want her to stay near her. However, his friendliness became too friendly. After about 5 months, her uncle raped her. She did not know what to do. She told her brother but he has Asperger's and he didn't really understand. She tried to tell her parents, but they thought she was lying. So she kept it all to herself. Her uncle did it once again, but this time her father caught him in the act. After that, her father moved the family back to America. I've known my friend since I was 12 but she did not share this story with me until we were 21. The hurt and pain had caused her to be very shy around guys. It also caused her to be afraid of males. She never could stay in relationships long because she would always think that the guy wanted to attach her. After she shared with me I was so sad, but i comforted her and we prayed. She told me that this was the first time she ever shared her story with anyone. She also said that sharing with someone who wouldn't judge her made her feel like a weight was lifted off her. Since then, she has made tremedous progress in her relationships with guy. She has forgiven her uncle and is able to move on and is able to slowly trust guys.
Child Abuse in Ghana:
I could not find much recent information on child sexual abuse in Ghana which I'm praying is a good thing. I did find an srticle from about 4 years ago with statistics on child sexual abuse. The report is from UNICEF. The report revealed that sexual child abuse is a major probelm in Ghana. The rate of rape was 181 in 2002 and 345 in 2008. The numbers are increasing instead of decreasing!! The forms of sexual abuse include unnatural carnal knowledge, defilement, rape, incest, child prostitution and indesent assualt. The report also said that many times the abuse comes from lack of parental support and poverty and many of the times the children do not inform anyone.
The steps that have been taken to reduce and eliminate child sexual abuse include passage and strengthening of the legislative environment, intensification of public education through the media, identification, counseling livelihood skills training and reintegration(www.uncief.org).
They also implemented The Five Year Action Plan on Violence Against Children from 2008-2012. The Five Year Action Plan on Violence against Children is a comprehensive plan for suppressing violence with measurable targets and indicators in which every Ghanaian, at all levels has a role to play. The aim of the plan is to create a safe environment that protects children from all forms of violence wherever they occur including the home, school, institutions, work place and community. (www.unicef.org). I tried to read more about the five year plan, but could not find much once again, except one article that stated that change in legislation does not mean change in society or behavior. I hoep to find out more information on the five year plan and to see if the statistics have changed or not.
It hurts me to know that children are going through this all over the world, not just in Ghana. I pray that there has been a signifcant decrease.
Corresponding Links
http://www.unicef.org/wcaro/wcaro_WCIII_good_practice_Ghana.pdf
http://www.ghananewsagency.org/details/Features/Ghana-Must-Stop-Violence-Against-Children/?ci=10&ai=20710
Hi Dorcas,
ReplyDeleteI met a woman with a similar situation, she blocked out much of her early years because of the very traumatic situation. I discovered even in this country it is very hard to have strong statistics of sexual abuse in general, because it is so hard for women and children to talk about. Thank goodness your friends father took the family away from Ghana, and you can help her heal. This just brings to my attention that we must speak up for the voiceless, children are so vulnerable and catastrophic events stay with them so long. Thank you for your post.
Hi Tina,
Deleteyes I read your post! I agree with you, we must speak up for the voiceless children, it is our job to do so. If we don't no one else will and the violence continues.
This is an excellent post. It is sooo sad to me how some nations do not protect their people from violence. I can't even watch certain movies that depict violence and crime toward innocent people.
ReplyDeleteI am happy you knew how to help your friend, I am a firm believer in "more prayer, more power." God is a healer, and if she puts her trust and faith in God he will heal her emotional and psychological scars.
I am happy that Ghana's government are taking preventative steps toward guarding their nation's people from violence and crime.
Once again Excellent post!
Hi Nadia,
DeleteThanks so much. Yes, God is a healer and she has put her faith and trust in Him! It's also sad because many times violence stems from poverty which is another major stressor in children.
This story is just heart wrenching. As I was reading about poverty in Russia, It stated that many children are FORCED in prostitution, a child.
ReplyDeleteIt breaks my heart reading stories about child prostitution. Some people can be so wicked to do such a thing to a child.
Delete