Network recues two teenage girls from forced marriage

The Brong-Ahafo Regional Girls Education Network has rescued two teenage girls from forced marriage at a farming community in the Banda District and Yamfo in the Tano North Municipality in the region.

The two girls who are Junior Secondary School (JHS) students are 14 and 17 years respectively, Mr. Beatrice Mamle Nkum, the Regional Coordinator of Girl-Child Education, disclosed at a media briefing on girls’ education in Sunyani.

She said officials of the Network intervened to stop the marriage ceremonies of the girls and their parents were invited to sign a bond to ensure that they would be enrolled again in school.

The Network  is made up of  representatives from the Domestic Violence and Victims  Support Unit (DOVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, Department  of Social  Welfare, Children‘s Department and the Ghana Education  Service

Mrs Nkum said parents did not have the right to force their daughters into marriage, saying even if a girl was at the age of 18, she could only be given into marriage upon her consent.

She expressed worry that girl-child marriage was prevalent in the region as it was being secretly practiced in some of the districts and municipalities.

Mrs Nkum appealed for concerted efforts by stakeholders to advocate for girls to attain employable skills to contribute to the nation’s development.

Source: GNA