four-year old girl was raped in Assin Adadientem village in the Assin North District of the Central Region of Ghana recently, sparking outrage. With all the conversations online, it’s clear there is need for more awareness and discussion on sexual and gender violence, including in the workplace or schools. People are demanding #Justice4Her and other sexual and gender violence victims in Ghana and there are a number of citizen initiatives underway; this post is a summary of them. Here are 12 things you can do right now to help get justice for this 4-year old girl and other victims (male and female, young and old):

1/Watch and SHARE this Facebook Live video for some statistics and context on the current rape case. You can also read this article on how Ghana’s culture of respect is being exploited to lure and rape children.

2/Express your anger, disappointment, etc online using #Justice4Her, started by the Coalition Against Sexual Abuse (CASA).

3/ Tag your leaders and reps on your posts – MPs, traditional and Religious leaders, School officials, Assembly men – go to their offices in groups to complain if you can.

4/ Contact Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to call for action: Info@mogcsp.gov.gh, Call: +233 302 688 181/7/4, Twitter and Facebook. Flood their phone lines, email, timelines to demand action.

Email the inspector general of police in Ghana at  Info@police.gov.gh. Call the office lines at +233-302 779 300. Alternate phone line is +233 302 779 302-5.

5/Tag and call for action from Ghana’s leaders President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, First Lady Rebecca Akufo-Addo, Second Lady Samira Bawumia and others. There has been no official statement from the presidency as of the time of writing this.

6/ Have a conversation about sexual and gender violence, rape and defilement in your own community (offices, home, school, workplace, church, mosque, etc).

7/ Call or contact TV and radio stations and journalists to express your discontent.

8/ Donate to raise funds for reconstructive surgery for 4-year old rape victim through this GoFundMe campaign. You can also donate in Ghana via mobile money using Vodafone cash 02079619739.

9/ Sign and share this petition which will be delivered to parliament leaders, the attorney general and other key stakeholders

10/ Change your social media profile photos to the attached image, courtesy of Penciled Celebrities.

11/ Take a photo of yourself holding a sign with the “#Justice4Her” and share it online using the hashtag. Tag @OMGVoiceGhana for a feature.

12/ SHARE THIS ARTICLE with your networks. Help spread the news. Every post counts. You can also share this Facebook post, this Twitter thread, or this LinkedIn post instead.

BASICALLY: Don’t let “We didn’t know” be an excuse for why no real action is taken.

 

Jemila Abdulai is a digital strategist, policy consultant and the creator of Circumspecte. Follow her insights on Twitter and Facebook.  / Photo Credit: Penciled Celebrities

3 Comments

  1. This is so sad .
    What at all do they see in these little children for them to deserve this.
    Anytime I see and here this I get devastated.

  2. Fuseini M Nabla Reply

    Well, that insane young man should punished accordance by law.He must be felt with seriously so that it will serve as a lesson to others. But our leaders must also act instead of always talking,young men go about taking different types of drugs just to make themselves high n this does not help us at all.I don’t think this young did that in his own sense.I want to believe he might have taken something which influenced him to commit such inhuman act.thanks

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