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Sagnarigu, Ghana – Northern Regional Coordinator of the Legal Aid Commission, Lawyer Awudu Issah Mahmudu, has stressed the need for government and the National Health Insurance Authority to urgently make medical examination of victims of rape and defilement free of charge.
According to him, the inability of many victims of physical assault especially rape and defilement to access the required medical examination requested by a court as a basis for determining the final outcome of a case is a great disservice and injustice to the victims.
While acknowledging that a medical report is key to unravelling the truth or otherwise of any alleged assault case and must be encouraged, he urged Ghanaians to join the struggle to get the government and the NHIA to make access to such service in health facilities free for all who are victims in such circumstances.
Lawyer Mahmudu who was speaking to journalists in Tamale at a day’s training workshop for personnel of the Ghana Police Service on the role of security agencies in protecting the rights of children, said it is inhuman for medical doctors to refuse to examine victims of assault particularly children and women on the grounds of nonpayment.
The workshop, under a project dubbed “Justice for children: Bridging the gap between legislation and practice”, and organized by the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), is to influence national institutions including the GPS to be more transparent, accountable, human rights-oriented and consistent with the broad outlook of Ghana’s justice for children policy.
The project seeks to bridge the gap between legislation and practice within the broad outlook of Ghana’s justice for children system by ensuring that children in conflict and in contact with the law are adequately protected and their rights promoted through targeted interventions including policy and legislative reforms as well as enhanced service delivery.
It is also intended to ensure the provision of legal assistance and services for at least 350 children nationwide who are in conflict with the law.
With funding support from the European Union, the LRC is training police officers with the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) from the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions under the 3-year project to provide support and assistance to children in conflict and contact with the law.
Detective Inspector Niabi Stella, DOVVSU Station Officer in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region, complained about the appalling condition in which officers of the unit work.
In an interview with Savannah News, she said there is complete lack of office space where they can interview or take statements of victims of abuse especially juveniles.
“We need proper friendly interview rooms where we can isolate them when they come to report a problem. They need privacy and their confidentiality need to be preserved.
“When it comes to bathing, feeding, clothing, everything is on you as an officer. There are no resources to available to cater for these needs when you are handling cases involving juveniles. You have to spend from your pocket and this is not something that you’ll be reimbursed”, she pointed out.
D/Insp. Niabi admitted that the challenges largely affect cases reported to DOVVSU by sometimes derailing court processes beyond six months. “By law, juvenile cases are not supposed to go beyond six months. And so when a case is seen to be going beyond six months the judge has no option than to just quash it”, she said.
Meanwhile, participants were taken through the Ghanaian legal system, legal aid and services it provides, responsibilities of state agencies and justice for children case reporting among others.
By Savannahnewsonline.com/Philip Liebs
