Early/forced marriages surge in Kintampo and Nkoranza North Districts – MIHOSO

Early/forced marriages surge in Kintampo and Nkoranza North Districts – MIHOSO. Early and forced marriages are surging in the Kintampo Municipality and Nkoranza North District of the Bono East Regions, Mr Thomas Benarkuu, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer in-charge of Operations, MIHOSO International Foundation, an NGO has said.

The Foundation is a health centered, human rights and social development NGO, which works to improve the wellbeing of vulnerable people and women.

According to Mr Benarkuu, data collected indicated 53 cases of forced and early marriages in the Kintampo Municipality.

Out of the data, the Department of Social Welfare recorded 25 cases, while the Police also recorded 11 recorded cases.

The Girl Child Education Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) received eight cases, mostly from Zongo settlers, while the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) also had 11 cases.

In the Nkoranza North District, Mr Benarkuu said the Girl Chilf Education Unit had recorded 13 cases of teenage pregnancy, forcing the girls into betrothal and child marriage, saying, though there were several cases, the Department of Social Welfare and CHRAJ could not immediately provide figures.

Mr Benarkuu said an outcome of a research conducted by the foundation in the two Districts showed that girls between 14 and 17 years were mostly victims of child and force marriages.

“This implies that more girls in the two areas were being forced into marriages,” he added, and attributed the menace partly to teenage pregnancies, desired to safeguard girls’ virginity as well as culture and tradition.

“The desire to protect girl’s virginity is closely linked to the religious teachings which frown on early and pre-marital sex,” Mr Bernakuu stated.

He expressed worry that the practice served as a barrier to school attendance, and dropouts among girls in the localities, as well as child delivery related difficulties, saying “most victims of early and child marriages might to be developed physiologically to carry out their reproductive role.”

Mr Benarkuu said infant mortality, greater risk of contracting HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and descending into poverty were some of the consequences of child and forced marriages in the two districts.

He recommended intensified public education on laws, conventions, and human rights in local communities to reverse the trend.

Some outmoded traditional practices and norms that encourage forced and child marriages ought to be identified and abolished, Mr Benarkuu stated.
Source: GNA