Girls in the Upper East Region have been vulnerable to sexual abuse because of some queer traditional and societal socialization coupled with the lack of information abuse sexual abuse and how to prevent same.
These were contained in the findings from a baseline survey from the Sister for Sister Project under the auspices of Afrikids Ghana.
The survey found that 7.14 percent of respondents were very sure that someone either a male adult or a boy will touch them in an inappropriate or uncomfortable manner or sexually abuse them in the next year
It also revealed that “the greatest majority who are likely to abuse girls are school male peers (41.84 percent). Followed by non-relatives (38.78 percent), Boyfriend/Partner (24.49 percent), Family friends (13.27 percent), School teachers (11.22 percent), Family members (3.06 percent), 2.04 percent are likely to be drug abusers or alcoholics”.
The survey also found that 12.2 percent of the respondents had been sexually abused within the past two years.
The survey was conducted to help stakeholders understand the root cause of the spikes in teenage pregnancies in target districts [Bolgatanga Municipality and the Builsa North Municipality], especially, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The survey was also to assess girls’ knowledge and awareness of the barriers and risks to their Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and their attitudes and behaviours related to same.
It was also to assess parents or guardians of target girls’ knowledge and awareness of the barriers and risks to girls’ SRHR, the status of parent-child communication, attitudes and behaviours related to SRHR.
The survey targeted 98 JHS 1 and 2 girls in the two districts aged between 12 and 18 years.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
