Children Rights is Human Right: Child Abuse in its modern form in Ghana.

March 1, 2010 - The United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights(OHCHR) defines human rights as rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, language, or any other status. 

 We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. Ghana, a developing country, has done little to protect the rights of children. This article is intended to inform readers about how child abuse and child slavery has become part of Ghana’s culture and socio-economic life style, and explore what is been done to curtail this dehumanizing condition.

The welfare of the child within the family and the state’s responsibility towards the child has become the subject of growing concern in recent times. Attempts have been made to focus on relevant issues affecting the quality of life of children in Ghana and to formulate substantive policies for the protection of the rights of children to ensure more sustainable advancement in the nation as a whole. Even though this problem is far from new, it was just recently acknowledged that something needs to be done about it immediately. The issues affecting children and their rights are numerous and varied and derived from a wide range of sources including abuse and slavery.

According to Ghana’s Constitution, the child within the Ghanaian family has specific rights such as care, maintenance, succession, etc. Some of these rights are customary in origin and some have been granted by statute. There also are duties inherent in the enforcement of those rights. The child thus has a duty to provide services to support parents in old age, and to assist with the funeral arrangements of their parents. A parent also has a legally-recognized right to inflict moderate and reasonable punishment on a child for the purpose of correcting a child or punishing an offense.

It will surprise you to know that the criminal code of Ghana justifies the use of force against a child under sixteen years of age, provided such force used is reasonable under the circumstances, and is used solely for the purposes of correction. But this is very unfortunate. The criminal code’s justification does not state to what reasonable extent force should be used or applied in correction or punishment for an offense.

Despite the fact that Ghana is a signatory to the UN convention and the O.A.U Charter on the Rights of the Child, children are subjected to several forms of abuse. Moreover the socio-economic and cultural situation in Ghana has also contributed immensely towards this dehumanizing and degrading situation of exploitation, abuse of the child and also the use of children as slaves in various forms.

Available statistics indicate that thirty-nine percent (39%) of children in Ghana are engaged in economic activity, with over 1,031,220 out of the number under 13years of age. In the urban areas children from low income households contribute to family income through a wide range of commercial activities such as hawking, head porterage, shoe-shining, petty trading etc. The Ghanaian media abounds with cases and instances of child abuse ranging from abandonment, rape, and assault to ritual murder, and the situation is worse for children who are not under care, especially street children.

Moreover child prostitution, although illegal, exists. According to one report, there are approximately 125 brothels in Accra alone in which young girls are forced into prostitution. Fostering and informal adoption of children aged 8 upward is common in Ghana. The majority of these children are girls who end up as maids and are made to work around the clock. 80% of these girls were between age 10 and 14 years, and have little or no time to play or interact with others. They are also denied education and subjected to hunger, even though in most cases these young girls prepare the meals.

Although, the Constitution prohibits slavery, it exists on a limited scale. Trokosi, a traditional practice, is a system in which a young girl, usually under the age of 10, is made a slave to a fetish shrine for offenses allegedly committed by a member of the girl’s family. In rare instances, boys are offered. The belief is that if someone in that family has committed a crime, such as stealing, members of the family may begin to die in large numbers unless a young girl is given to the local fetish shrine to atone for the offense committed by their families. This system is particularly prevalent in the Volta region of Ghana. The girl becomes the property of the fetish priest (enslaved); they are subjected to forced labour and sexual abuse, often bearing the priests’ children. Even after release, a woman’s obligations to the shrine are life long and a replacement is expected when she dies. It is estimated that some 4,500 girls are caught up in this system.

The recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Yet, this inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of the child in the Ghanaian family are abused, and trampled upon, thus silencing children’s voices in the family and community as a whole.

Indeed, this is a shame and steps towards the full protection of children’s rights must be taken. Children are a potential human resource and therefore if any nation is to have continuity and progress, there is the need to preserve the future generation. 60 years have gone by since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was approved and announced by the general assembly of the United Nations. Ghana’s compliance is long overdue.

A great deal of work has begun in recent years. Young people are raising consciousness through awareness campaigns and education, and are actively exercising and defending their own rights even under adverse conditions. Various human rights organizations have been formed and are helping in the fight for preservation and enforcement, and the Ghanaian government has gone even further, enacting legislation, creating mechanisms and also putting into place a range of creative measures such as the Children’s Bill and MOWAC to ensure the protection and realization of the rights of those under the age of 18.

Nevertheless, as the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said, “The principle of ‘all children, all rights’ is still much too far from being a reality”.

Human rights will continue to be abused unless something is done to protect those who are most vulnerable. Right now Ghana is moving from a state of protectionism to modernity. Ghana is answering a call for a new dawn in achieving a long-lasting effect with the enactment of legislation and policies. It has also made available provisions for free basic education and the introduction of the capitation grant to sustain and aid the deprived or families who can not afford to bare full cost of education.

Reference : Ilyass Mohammed to Azibo Press

More info : http://www.azibopress.org