CHRAJ calls for inclusion of compensation in Defilement Law

Mr Daniel Mensah, the Acting Volta Regional Director of Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has called for the amendment of the law on defilement and rape.

He said though the law punished the offenders, it did not compensate the victims.

Mr Mensah was addressing a Review Meeting with the media in Ho, on Gender-based Violence, Domestic Violence, Harmful Traditional Practices and Adolescent Reproductive Health issues.

The review was organised by the Department of Women with support from the Volta Regional Coordinating Council and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Mr Mensah said the victims of defilement and rape needed monetary support to go back to school or integrate well in society.

He, therefore, proposed the establishment of a fund or   a fine to compensate and take care of such victims.

Mr Mensah said such a “package” would encourage victims and people to report such acts and help eliminate the practice.

Ms Comfort Ablometi, Volta Regional Director, Department of Women said rape, defilement, domestic violence and teenage pregnancy were on the rise in the Region.

She said the region was now leading in teenage pregnancy cases in the country and charged the media to help address the issue through education.

“We should get prizes for the good reasons not the bad ones,” she said.

Ms Ablometi also noted that psychological violence was tearing marriages apart in the Region with children being the worst off.

She said men, like women, also suffered psychological violence, which they bottled within them for fear of being ridiculed when others got to know.

The consequences, she said were dire, and sometimes death.

“We have to do something to curb it because we are all suffering,” she observed.

Source: GNA