Sexual abuse should trigger police investigations, not community intervention – Felicity Nelson

The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Development Company, Felicity Nelson, has called for an end to the practice of traditional and religious leaders intervening to seek private settlements in sexual abuse cases instead of allowing the police to investigate.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, October 24, Ms Nelson said the practice of elders, chiefs, queen mothers, pastors and imams pleading on behalf of alleged perpetrators of sexual offences undermines accountability and must be discouraged.

Her comments follow allegations of sexual abuse involving female students at Obuasi Senior High Technical School, which have raised concerns about child protection and the handling of complaints within educational institutions.

"We have to look culturally as Ghanaians and say this idea that when someone commits a crime, especially of a sexual nature, where elders, church leaders, imams, chiefs and queen mothers go and beg on their behalf needs to stop," she stated.

"If it was even my wish, we need to criminalise it," she added.

Ms Nelson stressed that allegations of sexual abuse must be subjected to thorough investigations rather than resolved through informal interventions, while safeguarding the rights of all parties involved.

She also urged authorities to prioritise the welfare of the alleged victims by ensuring they receive adequate psychological, emotional and medical support.

"Of course, all allegations must be investigated. As it stands now, these still remain allegations, so we are still saying yes, let's investigate. However, I want us to prioritise the victims in this case, their wants, their needs," she said.

"We need to ensure that they are fine. We need to ensure that psychologically they are okay, emotionally they are fine. In terms of health, we need to do those checks," she emphasised.

Highlighting the broader problem of sexual abuse in Ghana, Ms Nelson cited UNICEF reports which, according to her, indicated that 22 per cent of adolescent girls had experienced some form of sexual abuse, while another report suggested that 51 per cent of girls in secondary schools experienced sexual abuse between 2019 and 2021.

She described the situation as endemic, warning that the allegations at Obuasi Senior High Technical School reflect a wider national concern, with many incidents going unreported.

"This is endemic, it's a serious issue. Inasmuch as we are talking about Obuasi, we need to be mindful of the fact that this is not just happening at Obuasi," she noted.

The Deputy CEO further called for stronger safeguarding systems to protect children, ensure complaints are appropriately handled and prevent alleged perpetrators from escaping scrutiny through community interventions.