The Ark Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has sensitised residents of Haatso in the Ga East Municipality of the Greater Accra Region on the dangers of child marriage and its effects on victims.
The programme sought to outline the effects of child marriage on children and their families, provide information on seeking redress on gender-based violence, which is associated with child marriage, as well as elicit information from community members on their views on Gender-based violence.
Miss Annabelle Pwalia, the Anti-Violence Programmes Manager at Ark Foundation, told the Ghana News Agency that forced marriage was a phenomenon that affected many girls across the country.
“Although it is prevalent in the Northern and Volta regions, it is not uncommon to find its traces in urban centres, hence the need for the sensitisation in the Greater Accra Region.”
Miss Pwalia said child marriage affected the socioeconomic and psychological development of young girls and, therefore, the need to address it.
She tasked community members to report suspected cases of child marriage to the Ark Foundation and other appropriate authorities in the effort to end the practice.
As part of the sensitisation, the audience watched an 11-minute video titled: “Child Marriage Survivors Experience” that tells the story of five girls from different parts of the country who were forced into marriage but came out strong to pursue their education to the highest level, in spite of their ordeal.
In an open forum, participants asked questions on child neglect, teenage pregnancy and abortion among other things and urged the NGO to add it to its programmes.
The United Nations Children’s Education Fund defines child marriage as the formal or informal marriage of a child under the age of 18.
Marriage of a girl or boy before the age of 18 is recognised in international legal instruments to be a violation of the child’s human rights.
While it applies to both boys and girls, the practice is far more common among girls.
All over the world, 22 million girls are already married before age 18, and it is estimated that up to another 280 million are at risk of becoming brides before they turn 18.
