By Emmanuel Gamson/ Gladys Abakah
Takoradi, Nov. 13, GNA – Hen Mpoano, a non-government organisation (NGO) focused on coastal and marine ecosystem, has launched a Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevalence Data Dashboard to monitor issues of gender disparity and violence against women and men in coastal communities.
The web-based tool, launched under the Women in Fisheries Against Violence (WiFVEs) project, jointly implemented by Hen Mpoano and CEWEFIA, also an NGO, sought to provide real-time tracking of GBV trends within the project’s implementing communities in the Central and Western regions.
The launch, held in Takoradi, was attended by key stakeholders within the fisheries sector who were introduced to the dashboard’s functionalities, and how they could contribute to enhance its effectiveness.
The WiFVEs project is a three-year European Union funded initiative aimed at advancing gender equality in Ghana’s fisheries sector by advocating against GBV, abuse, and discrimination against women and men.
It also sought to strengthen the capacity of fishers and community leaders to prevent and respond to GBV, support law enforcement in combating GBV, and improve access to social services and livelihood opportunities for women at risk and survivors of GBV.
Mr. Justice Mensah, a Project Manager at Hen Mpoano, speaking at the launch of the Dashboard said between September and December 2023, a survey on GBV prevalence was conducted in 18 implementing fishing communities across seven districts in the Central and Western regions, and based on the findings, a web-tool was designed to track progress on key GBV indicators within those areas.
He said the survey showed that the GBV issues ranged from physical, sexual, and economic related abuses with 41 per cent of respondents experiencing physical violence, 43 per cent sexual, and 17.3 per cent economic related.
He stated that per the survey, 75.9 per cent of residents in fishing communities in the Central and Western Regions recognised that GBV issues were problematic in those areas and called for more awareness creation to reduce such incidents.
Madam Adiza Ama Owusu, the WiFVEs Project Manager, said fishing work along the coastal communities was deteriorating and resulted in GBV in various forms.
“When fishermen catch low to nothing fish at sea and fishmongers do not get any to process and sell, it creates tensions between these two entities resulting in various forms of violence”, she said.
She, thus, called on policymakers to prioritise economic empowerment interventions to create alternative livelihoods for costal dwellers to help enhance their living standards and subsequently reduce issues of GBV.
Madam Maribel Akuorkor Okine, Western Regional Director, Department of Gender, commended Hen Mpoano and its partners for developing of the GBV dashboard and said the Department would integrate the dashboard as part of its tools to monitor and help prevent the rising issues of GBV at the local, regional and national levels.
Mr. Kabutey Jonas, Ellembelle District Social Welfare Officer, noted that the dashboard would help the social welfare department track areas where GBV was prevalent for action.
GNA
