The African Women Leaders Network (AWLN) Ghana Chapter has, in a statement, strongly condemned the horrific act of violence captured on video in which a man is seen brutally assaulting his naked wife in a suburb of Accra.
The act, it said, is not only barbaric and dehumanising, but a direct violation of her dignity, rights, and bodily integrity, adding that it was an affront to “our collective conscience as a nation”.
What makes this situation even more alarming is that it comes barely days after the Akyempim tragedy in which a man killed his wife and six innocent children by locking them in their home and setting it ablaze as they slept.
The AWLN Ghana statement, signed by Dr Charity Binka, the chairperson, said the horrifying pattern of violent attacks against women and girls in Ghana was spiralling into a national emergency that demands immediate and decisive action.
AWLN Ghana notes that these atrocities are not isolated incidents. Rather, they represent a deeply entrenched culture of silence, impunity, and normalisation of violence within homes, which should provide safety and love, not death and brutality.
AWLN Ghana appealed to the Police not to treat the incident as a domestic dispute but must apply the full weight of the law in dealing with the case, saying the perpetrator must be prosecuted and punished without delay, to send a clear message that Ghana would not tolerate gender-based violence in any form.
It called on law enforcement agencies to prioritise domestic violence cases, ensuring swift response, protection for victims and accountability for offenders.
Zonta Accra II
The Zonta Accra II, in a statement, also said this year marks 30 years of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which has Violence Against Women as one of the twelve (12) critical areas of concern for women, saying GBV is a global human rights emergency that must stop.
Citing statistics, it noted that one out of every three women had been a victim of GBV, a figure it stressed must be reduced.
This year’s campaign, Zonta said, calls for a look at the impact of GBV on women and children and to assess what has been done so far to protect women and children from GBV.
This year’s campaign, it added, focuses on one of the fastest-growing forms of GBV, which is digital abuse against women and girls, a reminder that digital safety is central to gender equality.
It said even though online and digital spaces should empower women and girls, it had become a minefield of harassment, abuse and control, saying digital tools were increasingly being used to stalk, harass and abuse women and girls.
The group mentioned some of the abusive methods to include image-based abuse, such as non-consensual sharing of images of women often called revenge porn or leaked nudes, cyberbullying, trolling, online threats, online harassment and sexual harassment.
Others are AI-generated deepfakes such as sexually explicit images, deepfake pornography and digitally manipulated videos or audios, hate speech and disinformation on social media platforms, doxxing or publishing private information, online stalking or surveillance, online grooming and sexual exploitation, catfishing and impersonation and misogynistic networks.
These acts, Zonta says, do not just happen online but often lead to real-life violence, such as coercion, physical abuse and even femicide — killing of women and girls saying the harm can be long-lasting and affect survivors over a long period of time.
It said digital violence targeted more women than men across all walks of life — but especially those with public or online visibility — such as activists, journalists, women in politics, human rights defenders and young women.
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