The Executive Director of the ARK Foundation, Dr Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, has identified impunity and the failure of institutions to hold perpetrators accountable as key factors fuelling sexual abuse in Ghana.
She said people entrusted with positions of authority often exploit their power because they believe they can escape punishment, allowing sexual violence to persist.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show during a discussion on the alleged sexual abuse case involving the headmaster of Obuasi Senior High Technical School (SHTS), Zakaria Abdulai, Dr Dwamena-Aboagye said the problem was compounded by society’s failure to take sexual violence seriously.
“Even if you do it, nobody will bring me to book. That’s a very common expression. Take me anywhere,” she said, describing the attitude that emboldens some perpetrators.
Her comments follow a JoyNews investigation by Manasseh Azure Awuni, which revealed that municipal authorities, education officials and other influential figures had received reports concerning alleged sexual abuse by the Obuasi SHTS headmaster months before his suspension.
Dr Dwamena-Aboagye said the abuse of authority was particularly troubling when those responsible for protecting children became the alleged perpetrators.
Responding to a question about how a headmaster could violate a student entrusted to his care, she said the abuse was linked to the power such individuals exercised over those under their supervision.
“As far as this person is concerned, you know, I’m in a position of trust. I have people with me. I can exercise my power over them, not only as a headmaster, as an adult over a child, people put in my trust. The next thing that fuels this is the impunity,” she said.
She said that such conduct could continue when perpetrators believed their positions would shield them from accountability.
“This is severe abuse of trust. And it happens also because of the impunity that is enabled by the kind of responses that our institutions give.”
She said institutions must confront the culture of impunity that allows perpetrators to believe they can act without consequences.
“Impunity enables this kind of behaviour. And until we’re able to tackle that impunity through assistance, it won’t stop,” she said.
Dr Dwamena-Aboagye criticised the wider societal attitude towards sexual violence, saying victims often suffer serious consequences that are not fully understood by those around them.
“Let me just put it plainly, we don’t take this matter seriously,” she said.
“Sexual violence is something that a lot of societies do not take seriously. And Ghana is one such example.”
She said the failure to appreciate the effects of sexual abuse often influenced how allegations were handled by families, schools and other institutions.
According to her, victims can experience psychological, physical, economic, social and spiritual difficulties, yet their experiences are sometimes dismissed or treated lightly.
“Until we get rid of the mindset by understanding the nature of the act, what it does to the victims, how they struggle psychologically, physically, economically, socially, even spiritually, with acts like that, we would always continue to treat it with kid gloves,” she said.
She also expressed concern about parents who settle sexual abuse cases without adequately considering the experiences and welfare of the victims.
“People describe sexual violence as the living death. We don’t understand it,” she added.
Dr Dwamena-Aboagye said the response to sexual violence was not solely a problem within educational institutions, but reflected attitudes across society and the institutions expected to protect victims.