Sexual violence is imposing a public health cost on Ghana, with survivors facing lasting difficulties at work and in relationships, the Executive Director of the Ark Foundation, Dr Angela Dwamena-Aboagye, has warned.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, she said the consequences extended beyond survivors to the institutions they work in and the wider country.
“And it’s a cost, a public health cost, to our country.”
Her comments followed Manasseh Azure Awuni’s investigation into alleged sexual abuse involving female students at Obuasi Senior High Technical School.
The investigation found that authorities had received complaints against the headmaster months before his suspension.
Dr Dwamena-Aboagye said recognising the damage was essential to building systems that could support survivors.
“If we don’t understand that, we won’t be able to put in place the systems that would, of necessity, help us to help the few that we are able to help.”
She described the discussion as difficult, drawing on her experience of working with survivors. She was particularly disturbed by laughter during a discussion of an alleged incident at a chief’s palace.
Such reactions, she said, made people who experienced abuse feel invisible and influenced how institutions responded.
She said sexual violence was a global problem. She estimated that close to 80% of cases went unreported, citing fear of disbelief, stigma, weak support systems and distrust of justice institutions.
Survivors could also feel guilty about exposing abusers who were close to them.
For those who spoke out, she said, the response needed to build confidence that their complaints would be heard.
“So, yeah, we have a broken system, generally speaking, in Ghana when it comes to responding to survivors.”
She questioned whether a functioning response system existed in schools. Protection, she argued, should reach from the national level through regions and districts to communities.
Ghana already had laws, policies and procedures, she said. The failure lay in putting them to work.
“We have tons of documents, tons, whether the laws and policies, the whatever procedures, they are there, paper upon paper. What do we do with it?”
Dr Dwamena-Aboagye said the commitment required went beyond politics. Society also needed the cultural and human will to confront sexual violence.
“So we need to sit up.”