Statistics available at Domestic Violence Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of Ghana Police Service indicates that a total of 5,752 children were defiled in Ghana between 2010-2014 with 342 of the cases perpetrated by family members of the victims.
Out of that number, 91 cases were perpetrated by the victims’ own family members with 417 being perpetrated by people close to the victims. Also, 790 cases were perpetrated by other people not close to the victims.
The report indicated that in 2013, a total number of 1,230 defilement cases were reported and 1,097 cases were recorded in 2012.
In 2011, the report said 1,159 defilement cases were reported while 968 cases were reported in 2010.
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Commenting on the development, Mrs Angela Dwamena Aboagye, the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Ghana, an advocacy-based human rights organisation said several women find it difficult to press charges against perpetrators of defilement cases because of family issues.
“Intimate partner violence is basically criminal. It is a violation of a person's fundamental human rights and deeply affects their dignity and self-worth,” she told the Mirror.
Mrs Angela Dwamena Aboagye further called on chiefs and family heads to stop protecting the perpetrators of such crimes.
Meanwhile, the 2014 UNICEF study has said that an estimated 120 million girls under the age of 20 (about 1 in 10) have been subjected to forced sexual intercourse or other forced sexual acts at some point of their lives.