United Nations and Development Partners begin a 16-day Campaign to End Gender-based Violence in Ghana

Accra, Ghana; 27 November 2019 – The first Lady, H.E. Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo and the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Cynthia Morrison are featuring in a 16-day social media campaign to increase awareness and intensify national advocacy to end gender-based violence. The campaign will run as part of the 16 days of global activism against gender-based violence and will feature personalities in the media, sports and public sectors, starting with the First Lady.

The campaign is organized by the United Nations, the High Commission of Canada, UK Department for International Development, the Australian High Commission, the European Union, and the French and German Embassies.

This year’s global theme of the 16 days of activism, Orange the World: Generation Equality Stands against Rape, calls upon people from all walks of life, across generations, to take a bold stand against rape. It is estimated that 35 per cent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or sexual violence by a non-partner at some point in their lives. In some countries the figure is as high as 70 per cent.  Evidence shows that women who have experienced physical or sexual intimate partner violence report higher rates of depression, having an abortion and acquiring HIV, compared to women who have not.  

The theme also reminds us that the systemic silencing of victims/survivors and impunity for the perpetrators contributes to an entrenched and endemic violence against women and girls all over the world.

In Ghana, the theme Call it Out: Stop Sexual Violence against Women and Girls Now, reinforces the global call to foster a world free from violence for all women and girls.

Violence against women and girls is one of the most pervasive human rights violations occurring in the world. It happens in every country, including Ghana, in both public and private spaces. In Ghana, a significant number of women and girls continue to suffer violence and abuse, many of them in silence.  Statistics from the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, show that between 2011 and 2016, 30,408 assault cases were reported nationally. In almost all cases, the victims were women. Many more cases of violence against women and girls go unreported.

“It is time we break the culture of silence and blame around gender-based violence” notes H.E. Mrs. Akufo-Addo. She further calls on Ghanaians and the world at large to “Get up, speak out”.

Join the campaign by re-tweeting using #orangetheworld and #16days.