Domestic abuse cases decline - DOVVSU

Contrary to public speculations that COVID-19 restrictions contributed to an increase in domestic violence, statistics by the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit, DOVVSU, revealed otherwise.

Whereas in 2019 the unit recorded 18,000 cases of domestic violence, in 2020 it recorded 16,000 cases, which shows a two thousand decrease in cases.

Director of DOVVSU, Owusuaa Kyerema, who disclosed this on the GTV Breakfast Show, said generally victims of abuse do not report because they feel bad about it.

She said people in abusive relationships find themselves in such situations because they ignore early signs.

“Some people find getting married or attached to an individual as a form of prestige. Between 2019 and 2020 there was a decrease in domestic violence even though there was Covid. In Fact, in Ghana people thought there was an increase because of Covid"

For Clinical Psychologist Emmanuel Asampong, culture and socialization are major facilitators of domestic violence. This he said is because society usually belittles such cases.

"You’ll have people within the culture and within the society saying it is just an accidental problem, it’s belittled so you don’t even have what it takes to go and report”, he noted.