Dr Serlorm Kutsoati, Municipal Director of Health Service, Ga East Municipality, has urged Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), government, and non-state institutions to collaborate and perform their responsibilities efficiently to end gender-based violence in the country.
She said CSOs should have a more synergy in their activities and collaborate with mandated bodies to maximise efficiency of ending gender-based violence.
‘We are all part of it. Stakeholders can help, government can help, NGOs can help as well as children, but the beginning point is, let’s discuss about it and work together to find an ending solution’, she explained.
Dr Kutsoati said this at the 2023 CSOs national forum on sexual and gender-based violence on Tuesday, in Accra, on the theme: ‘Creating Safe Space For Young People Through Policies That Effectively Address Sexual And Gender-Based Violence In Schools And Communities’.
She said a collective effort would ensure commitment and dedication in the course of ending sexual and gende
r-based violence.
‘It requires concerted and sustainable efforts, collaboration and steadfast commitment to end sexual violence’.
She urged community actors to be a catalyst for change in their communities, advocating for the rights of women and girls, challenging discrimination, harmful social practices, and work towards the elimination of gender-based violence.
She noted that men also faced gender-based violence but were unwilling to report or speak about it due to fear of social ridicule.
She advised children to defend and protect their bodily rights saying, ‘each of you should be assertive about your body’.
She encouraged parents to take the welfare of their children seriously to ensure they developed into responsible adults.
During a forum discussion, participants were optimistic that creating a safe space for adolescents boys and girls to be loved and cared for in society would help stop sexual and gender-based violence in society.
Participants expressed worry over government not providing resour
ces and funding to key sector bodies to execute their tasks.
However, participants charged government to include sexual and gender-based violence in it policies and budget.
During the discussion it was noted that children between the ages of 15 to 19 were more vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence across the country.
Source: Ghana News Agency
