Wife of the Vice President, Samira Bawumia, has urged all coordinators and officers of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, to adopt human-centered approaches in dealing with cases that are brought before them.
She said the officers must “add human touch” to the cases so that victims are able to gain confidence in the system and not relive their unfortunate experiences.
Samira Bawumia made the call on Friday at the closing of a five-day training workshop for over 30 coordinators of DOVVSU from across the country.
The training, which was organized by the UNFPA and the Coalition of People Against SGVB and Harmful Practices (CoPASH), was aimed at upgrading the skills of DOVVSU officials informing them of new trends in the fight against domestic violence and how to ensure a successful prosecution.
Samira Bawumia revealed that one in every three women is affected by domestic violence, a situation she said was unacceptable.
“It’s not just the technical aspect of what you are doing but also the human touch for victims not to relive the story every day. They should know that we have a unit that cares for them and supports them and wants to see a resolution to their problems,” she said.
Mrs. Bawumia indicated that the aim of the program was to ensure that incidents of domestic violence are eliminated and justice served to victims.
While commending the participants for successfully going through the programme, she urged them to pass on the knowledge their have acquired to their colleagues and juniors so as to ensure a better informed DOVVSU.
“We want to eliminate this unfortunate incidence in the country for Ghana to be a beacon,” she said.
Samira Bawumia, who launched CoPASH through her Samira Empowerment & Humanitarian Projects together with the UNFPA, gave the participants an assurance of CoPASH’s support to their cause in ending domestic violence under their 5-year strategic plan.
She further committed to supporting DOVVSU complete the construction of a temporary shelter in Accra.
Meanwhile, the national coordinator for DOVVSU, Chief Superintendent Owusua Kyeremeh, has said she is confident that the training programme will help DOVVSU effectively carry out its mandate and totally eradicate domestic violence in the country.
Among the topics discussed at the training were electronic investigation, evidence gathering from social media, child-friendly policing, drafting of charges, sexual and gender-based violence, and ethics and ensuring successful prosecution.
The Greater Accra Regional DOVVSU Coordinator, SP Alice Awarikaro in a citinewsroom.cominterview said her outfit was now recording cases that involved happenings on social media hence the skills on gathering evidence from the platform would be helpful.
“I find it helpful because now some of our cases have to do with social media and sometimes we have to go there for evidence and if you don’t know how to get that, you cannot pursue the case so it is good you know how to go about it,” she said.
The Central Regional DOVVSU Coordinator, DSP George Appiah-Sakyi, said with the new knowledge, he is hoping to drastically reduce the incidence of sexual and gender-based violence in the region.
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Source: Citinewsroom.com
