DON'T INTERFERE WITH CASE OF OMESTIC VIOLENCE (PAGE 11)

THE Northern Regional Director of the Department of Women, Mr Issahaku Zakari-Saa has entreated opinion leaders and traditional rulers not to interfere and frustrate the course of justice regarding cases of domestic violence.
He noted that it was imperative for perpetrators of domestic violence to be prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others thereby helping to reduce the menace to its barest minimum.
Mr Zakari-Saa made the call at a community forum on the Domestic Violence Act 2007, (Act 732) organised by the Department of Women of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs at Nyankpala in the Tolon-Kumbungu District.
It was aimed among other objectives, at engaging the minds of the community members about their role of stopping and reporting acts of domestic violence.
A drama to educate the community on the dangers of domestic violence and its consequences was performed by the Suhiyini Drama Group.
The director observed that “though a lot of awareness has been created, some groups, individuals and sometimes perpetrators and their families persecute or harass victims, and officials of the department of Women and Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU)”.
According to Mr Zakari-Saa, domestic violence was a canker in the society stressing that “It is therefore our collective responsibility to ensure that we create a violence free environment for ourselves and generations yet to come”.
He appealed to traditional authorities and opinion leaders to support law enforcement agencies to bring to book perpetrators of the act to help rid the society of “these shameful and callous acts”.
The director however explained that the Domestic Violence Act provided an enabling environment and the necessary mandate for a more co-ordinated response to the Act in the country.
“The Act has provided the framework for such response which is operationalised through the National Policy Plan of Action which guides the implementation of the Act by all stakeholders” Mr Zakari-Saa noted.
He intimated that in line with the National Policy and Plan of Action, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs was embarking on a series of awareness creation, sensitisation and advocacy programmes on the Act.
The Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Mr Jacob Achulo entreated community members to help find an acceptable way of resolving conflicts at the family level instead of resorting to violence at the least provocation.
“Let us learn to maintain our families and send our children to school; it is when we are not able to manage conflicts that we have chaos in our respective communities” Mr Achulo pointed out.