The Upper East Regional chapter of the Young Urban Women’s Movement (YUWM), through its Chairperson, Miss Dorcas Zoogah, has called on stakeholders, including civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations and the media to collaborate with its outfit to eradicate early marriage in the region.
According to her “when we all come together to speak in one voice over the issue of early marriage, teenage pregnancies, forced marriages, and cultural norms that create room for their prevalence, it will go a long way to solving the practices in the region.”
She noted that early marriage and teenage pregnancies are major concerns in the region, recounting that a significant number of girls between the ages of 12 and 19 faced challenges such as forced marriages, early pregnancies, and early marriages.
This, the Chairperson bemoaned, does not only deny these young women education but also retards their development and the practice must be stopped with all efforts.
To eliminate the phenomenon, Ms. Zoogah said it is important that all stakeholders come together to intensify education on outmoded cultural practices that instigate the phenomenon and report the culprits of these practices to the right authorities.
She revealed this when she spoke to Mark Smith on A1 Radio’s Daybreak Upper East show about the state of adolescents and young women in the region.
An officer of the Commission on Human Rights and Administration Justice (CHRAJ), Edmond Alagpulinsa, who was also on the show, noted that some cultural practices in the region where a young woman is giving out as a gesture to a marrying clan form a common ground for the practices.
He said victims of forced marriages must speak up for the culprits to be arrested in order to deter others and eliminate the phenomenon.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Gilbert Azeem Tiroog|Ghana
