A research conducted by Amnesty International has indicated that 34% of girls in the 3 regions of the north are married off before they turn 18 years.

“We were in a sensitization programme in the North in Tamale and then I asked the question and the Chiefs were saying this is our culture and our tradition and then I asked how many of you would want their boy children as young as 15 to marry an old widow but they all said no.”

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“If your boy cannot marry an elderly woman why do you want your older men to marry younger girls? So it tells you that this is discrimination. So we have done a lot, we are fighting human trafficking and we are looking at issues of domestic violence,” Madam Natsu said.

In 2016, a women empowerment advocacy organization called Songtaba indicated that there was an increase of 42 percent in child marriage and gender-based violence in Northern Ghana.

This situation, according to Songtaba’s programmes Director, Hajia Lamnatu Adam is above the national average of 24%.

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“The situation in Northern Ghana is far above the national average and I believe religious bodies are crucial in fighting against child marriage and gender-based violence.”

The report among other things also bemoaned the poor access to the Justice and legal system in the country.

The report which was launched by Amnesty International is to serve as a document on human rights to help correct the injustice. It also expected to get more people acting to end child marriage.